


Funny, I Always Thought I Hated the Beach

by moe20112233



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: An AU no one asked for, Bottom Lance, Cuddling, Don't Kill Me, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Female pronouns for Pidge, Florida, Fluff, Gay, Gay Keith, Happy Ending, Hunay, Hunk is a sweetie pie, Keith and Shiro are Adoptive Siblings, Keith is pasty, Langst, M/M, Modern AU, Mutal Pining, PINING KEITH, Parties, Probs smut, Shallura Fiance's, Surfing, Swimming, Top Keith, background hunay, background shallura - Freeform, beach, bi lance, highschool, klance, klangst, let my boys be happy, non-con elements, pidge is sass, pining lance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-04-06 18:27:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 22
Words: 33,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14062848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moe20112233/pseuds/moe20112233
Summary: After being uprooted to a new town, with a new school, full of new people, and forced into a new job, after Shiro decided the he wanted to close the distance between him and Allura, Keith is forced to adjust to a whole new life. At least there's a hot cuban boy he can use as eye candy to ease the pain.





	1. Welcome to Florida

“Keith, it’s not that bad. C’mon.”, Shiro told his brother as they entered their new condo. The sunny coast of Fort Lauderdale Florida was Keith and Shiro’s new home, and while it wasn’t totally awful, Keith wasn’t ecstatic about moving to a new place for his senior year of highschool. Much less a place where Keith would have very little excuse to stay inside all day. He just burned so easily thanks to his pasty complexion, and who want to deal with the heat when you could stay inside with a nice cool glass of water and AC. Keith was a jeans and hoodie guy, not a tank top and board shorts one, “Look, you’re room is way bigger than your last one!”, and it was true. Keith’s new bedroom was bigger. 

“I’m not upset because of the house.”, Keith clarified through a grumble. And he wasn’t. The house was fine, it was no mansion or five star resort, but it was more than enough for two people. When you walk in, immediately to your left were two doors, one that led to Keith’s bedroom and another that led to a bathroom. If you continued down a narrow hallway there was a kitchen to your right with white appliances and cabinets. It looked like someplace your grandparents might live if they moved to Florida. There was a sliding door next to a small three person dining table, but it looked like the door would never be used. It just went to the side of the house, giving them a view of the golf course the condo complex was backed up next to. Across from the kitchen was a living room area, or at least that’s what it was supposed to be Keith thinks. There was a pull out couch and TV, but Shiro had gotten rid of one of the chairs in there to make room for his treadmill and weights rack. After the hallway opened up you’d be met with a dining room living room combo. The couch was L shaped and faced away from the kitchen towards a TV on one side, and a back wall that was all windows and a sliding door, that led to a screened in patio. The last room was off of the living room, and it was Shiro’s bedroom with an ensuite. The house was light colors, mixed with a sort of beige. It was nice. It was fine. 

“I know you didn’t want to move. But- I think this’ll be good for us.”, Shiro said as he set down his brother’s suitcase which he’d carried since he felt bad for completely uprooting Keith. 

“You mean good for you and Allura.”, Keith snidely commented.

“I thought you liked Allura?”, Shiro asked.

“I did.”, Keith said raising his voice slightly and giving a glare to show his annoyance, “Until she convinced you to move halfway across the country.”

“Keith the long distance was putting a strain on our relationship. You were the one who told me that long distance never works.”

“Cause I thought Allura would move to us. Not the other way around.”, Keith walked into the kitchen hoping that Shiro, who’d been there for a week more than Keith had stocked up on food. It was the beginning of the school year, so Shiro had let Keith spend the last week of summer vacation with his friends. 

“I know that this isn’t what you expected, but we did talk about Allura moving to us.”

“And yet it didn’t happen.”, He took out a bag of chips from the cabinet before trying to shove as many in his mouth as possible just to get out of this conversation. 

“She couldn’t get a job. She works at her father’s old business, and- you know he passed away a few months ago-”

“I do, and I’m sorry about that, but I don’t see what that has to do with me.”

“She couldn’t leave the business. It was her dad’s legacy. And, I was able to get a transfer to the branch here- My new boss is even starting me with a higher salary than before. It was just easier this way.”

“Yeah easier for you.”, Keith snapped, “Tomorrow I have to walk into a school I don’t know full of people I don't know to learn things I don’t care about when everything I _do_ care about is still in Chicago.”

“You know Pidge!”, Shiro said trying to cheer Keith up.

“Wow, I know one of the two thousand kids at my new school.”, Keith Deadpanned. 

“I’m sure she’ll introduce you to all her friends.”

“Who will probably be freshman like her, and I’ll get labeled as the senior who hangs out with freshman and then I’ll be bullied all year making for a great end to Highschool.”

“Give it a shot Keith. Please, for me.”, Shiro said. When Keith continued to eat instead of acknowledging his brother, Shiro grabbed the chips from his hand.

“Fine.”, Keith grumbled.

“Also, I told Allura you’d work at the surf shop with her.”, Shiro casually mentioned as we walked out of the kitchen. 

“You did what!?”, Keith asked.

“It won’t be that bad Keith. Who knows you may even like it. Plus it’ll be an easy way for you to get some money.”

“Fine- but I can’t surf! Or did you forget that we don’t have very many waves on Lake Michigan?”, Keith asked sarcastically. 

“You’d just be working register and things like that, don’t worry.”, He waved off, “You start Tomorrow after school. Pidge works there too y’know. And a couple other kids who go to your school.”

“Wow and here I thought you just hated me”, He deadpanned, “But no you’re trying to get me friends.”

“You’ll make friends Keith, You can still do all the things you did back in Chicago. We moved to Florida not an alternate dimension.”

“I can’t go see a cubs game.”, He retorted.

“Actually they’ve got an away game in Miami and if you’re nice maybe I’ll get tickets.”

“I can’t go down the aquarium and watch the lake through the huge dome.”

“You can go to the beach and see fish in the wild.”

“I can’t-”

“Please Keith, you and I both know the only reason you ever went out was to oggle hot guys. And at a beach, you can oggle as many hot guys as you want.”

Keith paused, “I hate you”

“You can hate me later, right now we’re going down to Altea Surf’s so you can get your uniform and we can let Allura know we’re finally settled.”

“Can’t you just text her?”, Keith whined.

“Nope. Now c’mon, you’ll be able to meet some of your co-workers and gauge if your current hatred of me is actually warranted.”

“This is the worst.”

 

 

“Keith! Shiro! Nice to see you’re both settled!”, Allura smiled as she leaned in to kiss Shiro, “Finally we don’t have to do the distance.”, She smiled. Shiro smiled in return as Allura turned to Keith, “I’m so happy to have you join the team Keith! Everyone’s excited about the new addition!”, She smiled.

“Mmhmm.”, He mumbled.

“You’ll have to excuse his rudeness, Keith isn’t too happy about the move.”, Shiro interjected. Allura pressed her lips into a frown but nodded understandingly. It wasn’t easy to uproot your life for the sake of someone else’s happiness.

“But he went through with it anyway. I hope I can make this transition easier for you Keith. Let’s go introduce you to everyone!”, She cheered as she turned and led them into the shop, “This is Coran, the General manager.”, Keith took in an older looking man, maybe fifty something he guessed, bright orange hair and a handlebar mustache complete with a hawaiian shirt and everything. This guy screamed Weird but Fun Uncle. 

“Nice to meet you my boy!”, Oh and he was New Zealander. Made sense, “Looking forward to training you tomorrow! I know you’ll do great!”, Keith nodded and took Coran’s outstretched hand before Allura took him to the next person. 

“This is Pidge, whom I’m told you already know.”, Allura commented.

“The conspiracy community is close-knit. Plus we went to same elementary school before Matt got his scholarship and we moved here.”

“Well the one standing next to Pidge is Hunk.”, She added. Keith looked Hunk up and down. Other than Pidge he seemed to be the first person around his age who he’d met. 

“Nice to finally meet ya Keith!”, He smiled warmly, “I’ve heard nothing but great things!”, He seemed nice enough. A big guy, he had the whole island life thing going but it wasn’t nearly as over the top as Coran. Keith could see himself getting along with him.

“Wow, then Pidge must not have said anything about me.”, Keith joked sending a look Pidges way. 

“I resent that implication!”, She glared.

“Can’t wait to work with you man.”, Hunk said. Keith smiled in return before Allura spoke up.

“Where’s Lance?”, She asked.

“I think he’s finishing up a lesson. Some girls from school, so y’know probably a lot of flirting going on.”, Hunk laughed. 

“Okay!”, A voice called from the back of the store, “I know I’m irresistible, but Kate literally couldn’t keep her hands off of me!”, The voice laughed, “I knew it was a matter of time before the school caught wind of all of this!”, He gestured to himself as he emerged from the back room. 

 

So this kid was tall, and lean. He was wearing a wetsuit that was zipped down so it was only covering hip from the waist down. Keith liked his eye candy, and holy shit was he looking at eye candy. The perfect proportion of muscles, like he had abs but he was still skinny and he didn’t look too buff. Perfect tan skin, pearly white teeth, smooth chest save for a small trail of hair that led down towards his crotch. Short brown hair that was messy from being in the water, some sand dusted his cheek creating a contrast in color, and- eyes. Bright blue eyes that sparkled. Keith had always thought his favorite color was red, but in this very moment the only color he wanted to see for the rest of his life was this blue. All was perfect until Keith remembered his earlier sentence about a girl feeling him up. So he was straight. 

“Lance this is Keith.”, Allura introduced.

“So _you’re_ the famous Keith.”, Keith noticed Lance’s eyes look him up and down, “Nice mullet.”, He laughed. Okay, so this guy may be hot, but Keith could already tell- Lance was an asshole. Hot, but an asshole.


	2. He's an asshole, Remember?

Florida is a weird place. There’s so many different parts that makes it hard to really get a grip on what Florida’s really like. You have the northern bits that are full of your more conservative types. The types that make you forget you’re in Florida, they make you wonder if perhaps you’re still in Georgia or Alabama. The kind of person who may still fly a confederate flag, or whose accent is that of an old western movie. Keith hates that part of Florida. You have the larger cities like Miami and Orlando that draw in tourists by the thousands. It’s the kind of place that makes you forget where you are. It makes you think, ‘wait am I in at Disneyland, or Disney World?’. It’s the place where you talk to someone from New York for five minutes, and then someone from England two seconds later. Keith hates that part of Florida. Then you have the South Western areas. Which are home to island life types. The kind that sit on the beach playing drums by a bonfire at three in the morning. The kind that grill seafood for every meal and have a smile that doesn’t ever seem to leave their face. Keith hates that part of Florida. You’ve got the more rural areas, but rural in Florida doesn’t mean the same thing as in Illinois. In Illinois it means corn fields and winding roads in the middle of nowhere. In Florida, it means swampy alligator filled glades. It means murky green water, and plants that really look like they should be dead. Keith hates that part of Florida. 

Then there’s Fort Lauderdale. An awkward kind of place in its relation to everything. A suburb that to Keith looks similar to some of the northern suburbs of chicago save for the palm trees and warm weather. It had a bit of everything. It was pretty touristy, had close proximity to the beach and was only a few hours drive from the big cities and the glades were pretty close too. The only thing it was far from was the northern bits, but even then Keith still found some confederate flags on certain houses. Probably due to the amount of elderly that retire there, and statistically those who fly the confederate flags tend to be on the older side of things. Keith wasn’t sure what to think of Fort Lauderdale. He’d enjoyed visiting when he was a kid, but that was before the accident. Before he and Shiro were without parents. Before he and Shiro were alone. Then there’s the reason that Shiro even moved them down there. So he wouldn’t have to be alone anymore.   
Keith wasn’t enough for his brother anymore. And Keith knew that thought was silly because Shiro had had girlfriends before. And Keith knew his brother wasn’t going to be alone forever, Keith didn’t even plan on being alone forever. But, Allura was the first person that made an impact in Shiro’s life that was so big it transferred over to Keith. I mean for god's sake the guy uprooted his life just to be closer to her. It’s not like Keith didn’t like Allura, but he felt threatened. Shiro at the moment was the only person in his life that he was comfortable with. All of his friends were back home. And now he was going to have to share Shiro with Allura. 

“You’ll get used to it, I promise.”, Shiro spoke snapping Keith from his thoughts, “And tomorrow you’ll be able to make some friends.”

“I _had_ friends in Chicago.”, Keith glared. He picked up a slice of pizza from the table before shoving it in his mouth. They sat in silence before Keith found it hard to contain what was bothering him most, “You’re not even engaged or anything.”, He spoke catching Shiro off guard, “She’s just your girlfriend. Like I’d get moving if you were engaged but- moving for a girlfriend? Plus, you’ve only been dating six months, which yeah- it’s kinda a long time, but not a long enough time to uproot your whole life.”, He huffed and took another bite of pizza, refusing to look Shiro in the eyes.

“W-well…”, Shiro stuttered, “I- I bought the ring yesterday.”, He sighed. Keith’s head snapped up and he saw Shiro getting up and shoveling over to the pocket of his coat. He pulled out a small velvet box and slid it across the table to Keith. Keith wiped his greasy hands on his napkin (Because he’s not an animal) before picking up the box, opening it to reveal a diamond engagement ring.

“Oh.”, Was all Keith could say. He still hated his situation but now he felt like a real dick for being so apprehensive about the move. To be fair though he didn’t know Shiro wanted to make Allura his forever, “Sorry. I didn’t know.”, Keith closed the box, standing and heading out of the room.

“Where are you going?”, Shiro called after him.

“To my room.”, Keith sighed, “Can’t be late for the first day of school, er whatever.”, Keith flopped on his bed with a huff. He was torn, on one hand he was happy for Shiro, but on the other- Look. Keith didn’t like change. And this was a lot at once. It had taken some getting used to when he lost his parents. Going from 4 to 2 was a culture shock. And now, adding Allura to the family was going to change even more. He wasn’t sure if he was ready. 

 

 

“Keith!”, Keith turned to see Pidge and Hunk sitting together in his last class of the day, AP biology, “Keith! Come sit with us!”, Hunk called.  
Keith nodded making his way over. He sat down at their lab table, after all they were better than nothing, “Wait Pidge aren’t you a freshman?”, Keith asked. What was she doing in a senior class?

“I’m a crazy genius. No big deal.”, She boasted, spinning around in the lab chair. 

“And so humble.”, Hunk deadpanned. He turned his attention back to Keith, “Nice to see you’re in this class.”, He smiled.

“Yeah, kinda glad I know some people in here. I’m already the new kid, don’t need to be labeled as the awkward kid too.”, He half joked. About ten minutes into class Lance ran in, out of breath and disheveled. 

“Mr. Mcclain.”, Their teacher Slav spoke, “I trust you have a good excuse for your tardiness.”, Lance glanced around the room looking nervous. Keith looked him up and down and if Keith wasn’t so worried about what may have happened he would think Lance looked kind of hot. His hair ruffled and looking almost like bed head, his shirt bunched up on his hip, revealing a tiny bit of his perfect stomach, his perfect blue eyes. Misty, but still sparkling. 

“Sorry. It won’t happen again.”, He said softly.

“I trust not. Take your seat.”, Lance nodded making his way to the empty seat next to Keith.

“So the mullet’s in this class.”, He teased. Keith grumbled, crossing his arms and looking away. Curse Lance for being so hot, and curse Keith for being so gay. 

“What happened to you man?”, Hunk asked quietly.

“Yeah, you look like shit.”, Pidge asked. Lance sent her a glare in return before crossing his arms and remaining silent, “Seriously dude, the fuck happened?”

“Nothing.”, He grit. Hunk and Lance resigned themselves, knowing they were fighting a useless battle, “So Keef.”, Lance teased, “How was your first day?”

“It’s Kei _th_ ”, He grit back.

“I like Keef better. I think it suits you.”, Keith rolled his eyes in response.

“Don’t care. Not my name, not gonna respond to it-”

“Alright, when you two are done flirting you can help Hunk and I set up the lab.”, Pidge broke the two up.

“We’re not- We aren’t flirting”, Keith said, feeling slightly offended. Yes Lance was attractive, this was established. But you know what else was established? That he was an asshole.

“Please, mullet over here couldn’t handle all this.”, Lance said gesturing to himself. Pidge merely rolled her eyes.

“Whatever losers. Now help.”, Keith looked at the sheet the teacher had handed out reading it over. It was less of a lab and more of a get to know your lab equipment. Made sense for something to do on the first day. The first day. 

 

 

“Welcome to your first day at Altea surf shops.”, Lance smiled with that familiar shit eating grin Keith was already growing accustomed to after a day of knowing him, “I’ll be training you today Mullet, so sit and listen!.”

“I thought Coran was training me.”, Keith grimaced. 

“Coran called in sick this morning, So I’m taking over.”, He smiled, “No let’s make this fast, I’ve got a four o’clock today.”

“Doing what?”, Keith asked. He heard something about lessons yesterday, but he still didn’t know exactly what Lance did for Altea. 

“I give surf lessons.”, Okay that just upped Lance’s attractiveness by at least 50 points. And the way his face lit up when he said surf. Keith needed to get it together. Lance was an asshole, remember?

“Oh.”, He merely said. Lance then took him through the shop teaching him how to use the register and stuff like that. Going through all the prices on suit and board rentals they have, before taking him out back.

“This is where my magic happens.”, He smiled.

“What magic?”, Keith asked clearly unimpressed.

“My surfing. This little section of beach is private. All Altea’s. It’s where I teach, and if you want to you can come out here during break.”, Lance sighed, “You don’t like the beach very much do you?”, Keith looked up at him a bit startled.

“How did you-”

“Not that hard to tell. You groan at everything, and you look at the water, with… disgust”, There was a moment of silence, “Plus you’re pretty pasty so you must burn really easily.”

“What’s that supposed to mea-!”

“Relax mullet. It’s not for everyone. Still, I think you’d have fun if you switched the skinny jeans for board shorts.”, Lance commented. 

“I’m perfectly fine thank you.”, Keith grumbled.

“Whatever you say mullet. Whatever you say.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment! Means a lot!


	3. He's got Baggage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment! Means a lot!

“You should really start keeping an umbrella on you. The weather here sucks pretty bad sometimes.”, Lance said startling Keith. They’d just finished their shifts, and Keith was waiting for the bus. Unfortunately in true Florida fashion it started pouring out of nowhere. So Keith was practically soaked from head to toe. Lance was kind enough to place his umbrella over Keith’s head, though due to this the two were standing practically chest to chest. Keith felt his heart hammer in his chest as he saw Lance with a small smile on his face. Different from the shit eating grin he normally wears. 

“T-thanks…”, Keith stuttered through a shiver a cold, “You taking the bus too?”, He asked.

“No, and neither are you.”, Lance said pulling out car keys and dangling them in front of Keith’s face, “C’mon, I’ll give you a ride.”, Keith looked at him nervously, “Unless you’d rather stay in the rain and catch a cold. But hey, I’m just trying to be nice.”

“Thanks.”, Keith said following Lance towards the parking lot. Keith caught Lance shoot a look over towards someone on the beach. He had messy long blonde hair, “Whose he?”, Keith asked.

“Just some asshole from school.”, Lance spoke coldly, “He doesn’t matter.”, Thee guy Lance was looking at walked away, clearly angry. 

“Why’re you looking at him.”

“If you want a ride, then stop asking questions.”, Lance snapped, “Now c’mon mullet, hop in.”

 

 

“She said yes!”, Shiro shouted. His voice was quickly followed by the sound of a door slamming and Keith looked over from the couch to see Shiro practically running at him, “She said yes!”, He shouted once more, “Keith! SHE SAID YES!”, He screamed. 

“I’m glad.”, Keith said in earnest. He was happy for him, but he was saddened. What was going to happen to Keith now? He couldn’t exactly move out on his own yet, but there was no way he was third wheeling on his brother and Allura. 

“What’s wrong?”, Shiro asked calming down a bit. Keith froze, of course Shiro could hear the worry in his voice. It was Shiro for god sake, “Do you not like Allura? Cause you said-”

“I like her. That’s not it.”, Keith said quietly. Keith’s leg began to bounce up and down and despite willing it to stay still it wouldn’t listen. 

“You’re scared.”, Shiro couldn’t help the small smile that made its way onto his face, “You’re not going to lose me Keith…”, Shiro sat next to his brother before pulling him into a hug, “We’re adding Allura to our family, not getting rid of you.”, Keith let out a deep breath before hugging back. Shiro always gave the best hugs. It was one of the few things that kept him going when their parents had passed. He could always look forward to his brother’s bear hugs, “Better?”, Keith nodded slowly, “How was school today?”

“Kinda sucky.”

“And work.”

“Even sucky-er”, Keith took a pause before adding, “Do you know a lot about Lance?”

Shiro had a feeling he knew where this was going but decided not to push, “A little, what do you want to know?”

“I just- Can’t figure the guy out. Like, some seconds he nice, then he’s an ass, then he’s super mysterious. It’s weird.”

“Lance is a bit of an enigma.”, Shiro spoke, “From what Allura’s told me he puts on a strong vibrato, but he’s got a good heart. If he’s being an ass to you, don’t take it personally.”

“That’s the thing though. Like- he’s not?”, Keith said, sounding unsure, “Like, he’s not mean to me. I think…”

“Why do you care? You never cared about people like that before?”, Shiro asked looking for a specific answer that had to do with the fact that Keith was VERY gay. 

Keith paused seeing that his brother was giving him The LookTM, “You think I like him!”, Keith accused.

“Don’t you?”, Shiro asked.

“Not like _that_!”, He defended

“C’mon Keith, I saw the look on your face when you first saw him. You think he’s hot!”

“That doesn’t mean I want to date him!”

“So you admit you think he’s hot!”, Keith looked at Shiro, and he saw it. That glint in his eyes that he got whenever Keith may have found his forever. That’s what their parents called love. Finding a forever. They said it was far more romantic than calling it love. The word love was tossed around far too often, love could come and go, but being someone’s forever- well that just had greater meaning. But why would Keith or Shiro even be thinking about this, he didn’t think of Lance as is forever, not that Lance couldn’t be his forever but- Here’s what he’ll admit to, Lance was alluring, he was attractive, but he was also mysterious. Mysterious in ways Keith wasn’t sure he wanted to get involved with. Plus he was obviously straight. 

“He’s attractive yes. Fine, I’ll admit that. But that doesn’t mean I want to date the guy.”, Keith said. Shiro obviously wasn’t buying it, “Shiro I’ve known the guy for three days.”

“I knew Allura was the one after an hour. Time is irrelevant.”, Shiro stated matter-of-factly. 

“Shiro, he’s hiding something. Like, the guy’s got baggage. I don’t want to get involved with that. So- no. I don’t want to date him, and I’d appreciate it if we dropped the subject.”, Shiro sighed and nodded. 

There were a few moments of comfortable silence as Keith turned his attention back to the tv, “So, are you liking Florida any better after a few days of being here?”

“It’s not the worst.”, Keith sighed, “But according to Pidge you can’t get a good pizza here, and if I have to go more than a month without my Lou Malnati's deep dish, I may finally snap and go on a murderous rampage.”

Shiro snorted in laughter, “I’m sure we can get some shipped to us.”, He stood up ruffling Keith’s hair, “You’ve gotten a bit of color.”, He joked.

“Yeah, I’m turning into my favorite color. It’s every five year olds dream.”, Keith deadpanned. 

“It’ll turn into a tan at some point.”

“Yes, after I’ve shed my skin like the cold blooded reptile I am.”, He laughed

“After all these years the truth finally comes out.”

“Shut up idiot.”

 

 

“I’m sorry ma’am, but I can’t honor this return.”, Keith said in his best fake nice voice.

“This is ridiculous! Why not!?”, The angry lady asked.

“Ma’am, this board is clearly damaged.”

“I bought it that way-”

“I can assure you we would never sell anyone a damaged board-”

“Are you even listening to me!? I bought it this way-!”

“Ma’am, we would not have sold a board in this condition.”, The lady paused, looking Keith up and down.

“I want to speak with your manager”, She said angrily. Keith sighed and called for Coran and came out and began handing the rude customer. Two weeks and this was already the umpteenth rude customer he’d had to deal with. I suppose that’s par for the course in a popular surf shop on a beach full of tourists. He decided now would be a good time to take his break and fell back into the chair’s in the break room.

“Sorry about that Keith.”, Coran said walking in, “You did the right thing by refusing the return.”, Keith nodded, “You’ve been doing well here! You’re really starting to fit in. Hunk, Pidge, and Lance have nothing but the nicest things to say about you!”, He cheered.

“Well, I mean he could stand to get a haircut.”, Lance huffed, he’d clearly come back from surfing, a blue towel wrapped around his waist and water trailing down his exposed chest. ‘ _What I wouldn’t give to lick that water off_ ’, Where the fuck did that thought come from. Keith was probably just exhausted. Must be the heat or something, “And maybe if his skin was any color other than red.”, Lance laughed. 

“Whatever Lance.”, Coran looked at the two boys, raising his eyebrows before walking out of the room.

“Oh, Lance, a boy came in looking for you- I believe he said his name was Rolo.”, Lance looked like he had seen a ghost at the mention of the name. Wasn’t Rolo the guy Lance had been staring at a few weeks ago? Keith remembered seeing him at school, he seemed like every other douchebag. He asked Hunk and Pidge about it, but they really couldn’t give any information on his link to Lance. Honestly Keith wasn’t even sure why he seemed to care about it so much, but something about the way Lance reacted around him, or in the mention of his name- it made Keith worry. 

“I-is he still there?”, Lance asked nervously.

“No, I told him you were still in a lesson and didn’t know when you’d be out. You know him?”

“Uhm, yeah… from school.”, Lance seemed to breath easy knowing that Rolo wasn’t still there. What was up with this situation and why does it make Keith feel so wrong?

“He gave me a message for you.”

“W-which was?”, Lance suddenly seemed nervous again.

“Not to forget your sister’s soccer game this weekend.”, This for some reason made Lance seem like he was going to pass out. And his eyes, lost all sparkle that they’d once had. They were cloudy and dark. It was like the ocean on a stormy day. Waves that could capsized boat, lighting that would kill anything in the water, and the sun lost from the sky.

“Do you need me for the rest of the day, or- am I good to go- I just- I have a thing-”, Coran looked at him oddly.

“Yeah, we’re a bit slower right now, so you can go ahead.”, He smiled shaking his head. Lance nodded before essentially running to the dressing room to change. Just what was so amiss about this? Why did Keith feel like he was going to vomit from that look on Lance’s face? Why did Keith want to kiss the frown off Lance’s face. No- Lance had baggage. And that baggage had something to do with Rolo. Keith didn’t need that. But god damn it- Keith has an affinity for finding himself attracted to the messiest of people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment!


	4. A Crushing realization

“I made waffles!”, Allura smiled as Keith trudged into the kitchen for breakfast before school. He grumbled something akin to a thanks before making a beeline for the coffee pot. Shiro smiled at his brother’s sleepiness. 

“You stay up all night on conspiracy boards again?”, Shiro smirked.

“The skunk ape is in Florida Shiro!”, Keith mumbled in a duh tone, “I’ve gotta do research. Be prepared.”, He sat down at the table as Allura pushed a plate of food towards him. He smiled gratefully and began eating. Shiro and Allura smiled at each other before Keith stopped, “Why do I feel like I’m about to get one of those awkward parent talks?”, Keith asked through his food.

“No- that’s not what’s happening.”, Shiro cleared up, “Just, you’ve been here for three weeks, and we want to know how you’re doing.”

“I know you were apprehensive about this move, so I want to make sure you’re liking it here.”, Allura spoke. 

Keith sighed, leaning away from his food, “It’s not Chicago.”, He said causing Shiro and Allura to both frown, “But- it’s not _horrible_. I mean, thanks to working at the surf shop I’ve got Hunk, Pidge, and Lance as friends. Plus, it’s nice to have a bit of extra cash.”

“How’s school?”

“Fine, I guess. I hate it- but like that’s cause it’s school, not cause we moved.”, Allura and Shiro smiled.

“And what about me moving in?”, Allura asked much to Shiro and Keith’s surprise. Shiro looked like he was about to say something but Keith was quicker on the draw.

“Not as bad as I expected. Plus, you make good coffee.”, He said taking a sip. He probably wouldn’t ever say it out loud, but having Allura here made him like her even more. It was odd, Keith had disdain for her after the move, but now- Allura was careful around Keith. And he appreciated it, she always made sure not to overstep any boundaries. This wasn’t the first time that she had asked Keith about how things were with her there. This was just the most direct way. And it warmed Keith’s heart, she cared about how Keith felt. Her intentions weren’t to take Shiro away from him, cause Shiro was really all he had. But now he had Allura too. And he appreciated that. 

 

 

Lunch time rolled around and Keith took a seat at his and The GangTM’s table. Pidge and Hunk quickly joined him but Lance was nowhere to be found. Keith tried to quell the uneasy feeling in his stomach when he saw what looked like Lance’s figure with a tuft of blonde hair he’d recognized as Rolo. But the two disappeared into the crowd before Keith could really get a good look at what the two were doing. Lance and Keith had grown closer over the three weeks than Keith would admit. The two had most of the same shifts at Altea surf’s so they’d ended spending a lot of time together. And when they had the closing shift on weekdays, there was rarely any one in the store, so they ended up having to come up with dumb ways to keep each other entertained. Keith had decided he may have been a bit quick to judge Lance on the asshole part of his assessment. He made a lot of jokes, like making fun of his hair and he did like to pick dumb fights, but Keith had decided that none of this was meant in mean spiritedly. Rather it was just Lance’s way of interacting. It was how he was with Hunk and Pidge too, so he didn’t take it too personally. 

The realisation that Lance wasn’t an asshole had honestly hit Keith pretty hard. Because it meant he had nothing to remind himself of when he felt a tingle every time Lance’s hands brushed his own. Or when he felt his face heat up when Lance complimented him. Or whenever he saw the world in Lance’s eyes. Keith had a crush. Three weeks into a new place and he’d managed to get himself a crush. It happened when they were working, and Keith totally slipped on a puddle resulting in Lance doubling over in laughter and shit- it was the most attractive thing Keith had ever seen. He looked so happy and Keith’s whole face heated up when he realised that he had made Lance like that and that he wanted to do it again and again and again. 

A crush on a straight guy no less. He saw how Lance shamelessly flirted with every girl in their class. And Keith didn’t consider himself the jealous type, but- NO. He was not about to admit to jealousy whenever a girl came in to the surf shop giggling and asking for a surf lesson from Lance. Not going to do it. 

“What’s the deal with Lance and Rolo?”, Keith found himself asking, his eyes still fixed on where he’d seen the two silhouettes earlier.

“Dude, this again?”, Pidge asked, “I don’t know any more now than I did the last five times you asked. What’s your deal anyway? You jealous?”, She wiggled her eyebrows.

Keith willed the blush away from his face, “No.”, He denied (Lied), “I just, it’s weird. Right, like I can’t be the only one who notices them. It’s weird.”

“Maybe, but it’s been that way for awhile, it’s just normal at this point.”, Hunk spoke, “Lance says it’s a personal thing. I’m pretty sure they’re family friends.”

“What makes you think they’re family friends?”, Pidge asked having just heard of this theory.

“Rolo’s always mentioning stuff about Lance’s siblings, so I dunno. Makes sense I guess.”, He shrugged taking a bite of his sandwich. Keith nodded and continued eating. About halfway through the period Lance walked into the lunch room. He looked, different. Not- extremely different, but his lips were a bit redder, and his hair was a bit messier. Honestly if Keith hadn’t been so lazer focused on all things Lance due to his recent realization of a crush, he may not have even noticed. Rolo was with him. And Keith felt this thing in his gut again. This thing that told him to punch Rolo in the face and keep him so far away from Lance that they never see each other again. 

“Bye Lance.”, Rolo spoke in a tone that was- well it was normal but Keith couldn’t help but think that there was something more behind it.

“Bye Rolo.”, Lance spoke coldly as he sat down beside Keith. It was odd, but Keith noticed how Lance sat closer to Keith than normal, it appeared to be in attempt to get farther away from Rolo. Keith wanted to put his arms around Lance and pull him closer but instead he merely shoved food down his throat to quell the feeling. 

“You’re coming to my homecoming party right?”, He asked, almost as if he already knew the answer.

“I-, I don’t know if I can.”, Lance said refusing to make eye contact.

“Right, I get it…”, He trailed off, “Alright, I’ll let you get to it. Oh, and Lance tell your brother I’ll be stopping by the middle school bake sale. He should save me a scone.”, Rolo began to take his leave before Lance stopped him.

“I’ll be at your party.”, He grumbled. 

“Cool. Your friends can come to it they want.”, Rolo gave a two finger salute, “See you tomorrow Lance.”, There was a promise in those words than made Lance bristle and made Keith want to vomit. Keith wanted to scream to Pidge and Hunk, yell at them and tell them that was a weird interacting. That friends didn’t talk to each other like that. But- he couldn’t because in actuality there wasn’t anything outwardly odd about the conversation. 

“Guess we have homecoming plans.”, Hunk spoke before Lance’s eyes widened.

“No you don’t. You’re not going to that party.”, Lance said.

“But you’re going?”, Keith asked.

“I just- look, Rolo’s a dick, don’t go. It’s not going to be fun. I’m going cause I have to.”, Lance said.

“Why do you _have_ to?”, Every word had Keith’s stomach twisting more and more. This wasn’t right, something about this wasn’t right.

“I didn’t mean it like that. It’s like, social obligation y’know. Just promise me you guys won’t go. Especially you Keith, doesn’t seem you’d be the type of person to have fun at one of Rolo’s parties.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”, Keith bristled. 

Lance sighed, “You know I didn’t mean it like that.” He stood up with a groan, “Look, I- I’ll see you guys later.”

 

 

“You want a surf lesson?”, Lance smiled at Keith.

“Dude, it’s like 11 o’clock, we won’t be able to see anything out there.”, Keith said as he continued to sweep the floor and close up shop.”

“Oh c’mon Keith! We’ve been talking about it all week! Let me give you a lesson. Since it’s your first one we probably wouldn’t go that far from shore, so the lighting won’t be too bad.”, Lance pleaded. 

“Fine. Let me get changed.”, Keith went into the dressing rooms and put on his swimsuit. He felt a bit self conscious when he stepped out, but also empowered. He felt Lance’s eyes on, and Keith knew he had muscle, so he was going to flaunt, “Ready?”, He asked stretching his arms above his chest. Lance nodded slowly as he continued to roam Keith’s body with his eyes. Straight guys didn’t do what Lance was doing right now, right? I mean Keith wasn’t straight so he wouldn’t exactly know. 

“Let’s go.”, Lance smiled grabbing his board. The two waited about waist deep into the water, “I wanna see how well you can balance on the board”, He spoke, “So, here I’ll hold it steady while you get on, and then I want you to try and stand.”

“Isn’t that a bit advanced for a first lesson? I mean I see you with some of these girls and you don’t even go in the water the first time.”, Keith commented.

“You got me, I’m starting you with something more advanced, but that’s because I know you’re amazingly capable of outshining most of my other first timers.”, He smiled. Keith felt his face flush at the compliment and was suddenly very grateful for the lack of lighting for hiding it. He climbed up the on the board and pushed up to stand. At first it wasn’t two bad, but Lance was also still holding the board steady, “I’m gonna let go now, kay?”, Keith nodded and only lasted about two seconds before he lost his balance and fell into the water. Lance tried his best to catch Keith, and half succeeded. They were both pulled slightly underneath the water, but when they resurfaces Keith was in Lance’s arms. 

There was one thing Keith had never realised about night swimming. It was fucking romantic and sexy. Cause like it was dark and they were alone, but then when Lance had caught him he became acutely aware of how little bathing suits actually covered. Yes they were shorts, but neither of them were wearing a shirt and it left a lot of skin on skin contact. Keith skin burned from where Lance was touching him and we didn’t want to let go. The water was a nice contrast to the heat he felt due to his heavy blush. Lance let go on him and grabbed the board, before instructing Keith to do it again. It ended in roughly the same way each time Keith tried, the only difference being that he was able to stay up a bit longer each time. 

“You’re a natural!”, Lance cheered.

“Thanks. You’re a good teacher.”, Shit, was Keith unintentionally flirting? Well, the flirting was intentional, but he hadn’t meant to be flirty- it was unconscious flirting that he had no qualms with. 

“We’re gonna do this again right?”, Lance asked.

“Yeah, I had fun.”

“Good. I had, like- a lot of fun. Can’t wait to do it again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment YO!


	5. That was a threat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment!

It wasn’t Keith’s fault. It just, it just sort of happened. Keith didn’t cause it. Keith was not the person who made the first move that set the events into motion. He merely was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now, Keith wasn’t innocent in the situation. He did nothing to stop the event from occurring, however he stands by the statement that this was not his fault. His teacher however, did not agree. 

“Kogane! After school!”, He’d shouted. Keith winced just thinking about it. This was Hunk’s fault. All his fault. Keith was stitching, Keith was probably going to get detention and all Hunk gave was an apologetic smile on his way out of the room. 

“If Coran’s there today, I’ll let him know you’re gonna be a bit late.”, Lance chuckled. They both had work after school that day, Keith softened a bit giving Lance a small smile and thanking him before returning to his anger. What _had_ happened? They’d been doing a lab to test the temperature at which a certain enzyme would denature, and Hunk had left his beaker unattended on the hot plate. It heated up (Because that’s what a hot plate does) and when no one was there to watch it, it overflowed, some of it got on the floor and Keith had slipped on it. His slip sent him flying into another person working, who then dropped their test tube. Test tube broke and the kid holding it cut his hand pretty bad. They called the nurse in, cause there was a lot of blood (Seriously there was no way that kid was making it to the nurses office) and she said he was going to need stitches. Naturally the teacher thought it was Keith’s fault. 

And, no- Keith was not the one who left the beaker, but he also noticed that Hunk did it, and didn’t say anything. 

“You were reckless you know that!”, Slav scolded as Keith attempted to fold in on himself. He nodded solemnly despite his inner monologue repeating it wasn’t his fault, “I’m not going to give you a detention.”, Keith let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding before Slav continued, “But you’re going to have to clean this up, then you can leave.”, Keith turned around and looked at the large mess of broken glass and various liquids.

“You can’t be serious! I have work-”, Keith had actually come to enjoy the surf shop. It was nice, it was where he and Pidge joked about conspiracy. Or where he got to try some of Hunk’s delicious new food. Or where he listened to one of Coran’s crazy stories. But most importantly it was where he saw Lance. Where his heart fluttered, and his stomach did flip flops all at the sight of those perfect blue eyes. Even describing them as just blue felt like an insult to the eyes. They were an ocean and more all wrapped into orbs that sparkled like diamonds. And today was Wednesday. Keith had been in Florida one month, and Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday were his favorite days, cause those were the days when He and Lance had work alone together. Occasionally Coran was there, but for the most part, it was just them. 

And Keith knew it was wrong to like Lance. Lance was loud, obnoxious, straight, and had- _something_. Something that he was hiding. Keith had no evidence of that last bit- but… he had a feeling about Rolo. So yes, he knew he should be doing everything in his power to quell the feelings he had for the Cuban boy but everytime he heard that laugh, or felt those hands, or looked into those eyes, all his inhibitions left. He’d never felt that before. 

“Clean- then you can Leave.”

 

 

“Rolo, I’m working I can’t right now.”, Keith heard Lance’s voice speak. Keith came in through the back so he could drop his stuff in the break room and get right to work but that also meant that Lance didn’t know he was here yet. The store was empty so Lance and Rolo must have thought they were alone. Keith knew he shouldn’t be listening, or that he should make himself known, but something inside him screamed ‘ _You **need** to find out what’s going on with them_ ’. He knew it was wrong, but he couldn’t help himself. 

“You _always_ have an excuse.”, Keith heard Rolo respond, “There’s no one here right now. It’ll be quick. Don’t make me angry Lance.”, Okay now Keith’s worries were justified. Because that there- that was a threat. Keith’s more primal instincts reared there head as he felt the urge to growl and bash Rolo’s head into the ground for threatening Lance. _His_ Lance. 

“I _actually_ can’t Rolo. Please don’t- just… Don’t.”, Lance’s voice was a mix of scared, exasperated, and pleading. Keith decided that tone wasn’t very becoming of him, “Please- Rolo I don’t want to keep doing this.”

“Too bad. I’m in charge here, and I’m not done yet.”, Rolo was clearly angry, and Keith wanted do step in so badly but he knew if he stepped in he may not be able to figure out exactly what it is that Rolo is making Lance do. And, maybe it wasn’t so terrible. Maybe Lance was just doing his homework. Or maybe it was something more cynical, “I’ll meet you after you get off of work. Then I get what I asked for. Or bad things happen.”, Keith needed to step out now. This was too much. He wasn’t about to let Rolo know that he’d listened though, so he’d play it off like he just walked it, “Your-”

“Sorry I’m late Lance. Got here as fast as I could.”, Keith walked over to Lance and stood as close as possible without it being overwhelmingly weird but still sent a message to Rolo. He sent a glare Rolo’s way but tried to make it so it wasn’t an outright glare. He wanted Rolo to be uncomfortable but he didn’t want to Rolo to _know_ why he was uncomfortable. 

“H-hey Keith. How long ya been there?”, Lance asked, a slight nervousness showing in his voice. 

“Just got here.”, He lied. 

“I’ll see you later Lance. Also tell your brother the scone was great!”, Rolo then left and Keith and Lance found it easier to breath.

“Hey man- did Slav give you detention?”, Lance quickly asked in attempt to change the subject. Keith thought he’d humor him for a little, waiting enough time to make sure Rolo wasn’t still in the area before confronting Lance. 

“Nah, just had to clean a little.”, Keith replied. But then it hit him. He could not confront Lance. Under any circumstances, cause like- why would he care? It- Would it make Keith’s crush obvious? Plus- what if it was just homework or something stupid like that? Should he confront him? Or no? This was a Shiro question. Shiro was great at giving Keith advice, but- He’d have to wait until he got home before he’d be able to talk to Shiro. Maybe it wouldn’t be terrible to ask Shiro. So if Shiro says he should say something then tomorrow he would. But that also meant he’d be subjecting Lance to whatever it was he was doing for at least another night, and that didn’t sit easy with Keith.

“Keith, buddy- ya with me?”, Lance asked snapping his fingers. _’Shit, he’s been talking._ ’, Keith thought. 

“Y-yea, sorry. Was kinda spacing out.”, Keith spoke. He ultimately decided that he would ask Shiro what he thought, then talk to Lance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment!


	6. I'll never let anything happen to you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CONTENT WARNING 
> 
> (Attempted non-con) 
> 
> READ AT OWN RISK

“Shiro, hypothetically… if you heard someone being theatrented, what would you do?”, Keith asked out of the blue as they watched their favorite Friday night TV show. 

Shiro turned and blinked at Keith his expression turning into one of worry, “Did someone threaten you?”, He asked.

“No!”, Keith shouted, “I just- what would you do if someone was being threatened? hypothetically. No one is threatening me.”

“Did you hear someone get threatened?”, Shiro reasked.

“N-no.”, Keith stuttered out, “this is a hypothetical Shiro.”, He grit.

“Right- hypothetical.”, Shiro said in a tone that let Keith know he was going to humor him but clearly wasn’t buying it either, “Well it depends, what kind of threat?”

“Just- any threat.”, Keith said. He wasn’t really sure what kind of threat it was anyway. Was it physical? Monetarial? Verbal? Was the threat itself empty?

“Well, _I_ would step in. But _I_ am a police officer. I can. If _you_ heard someone threatened, then you should come to me, a **police officer**.”

“Would you talk to the person who was threatened?”

“Yes, after I talked to a police officer.”

“What if you can’t go to the police? What if it’s not illegal-”

“Keith a threat of any kind is cause enough for the police.”, Shiro took a breath and studied Keith, “Who was threatened?”

“No one-”

“Keith don’t lie to me. Who was threatened? This could be serious.”

“But what if it’s not! What if it’s something dumb and then I’ve gone to the police for something stupid?”

“Wouldn’t you rather be safe than sorry?”, Keith didn’t respond, “Keith, who got threatened?”

Keith’s mind was a swirl, should he tell Shiro? One one hand Shiro was right, it could be serious and Keith knew that Lance was doing something with Rolo right now because of what he’d overheard, but what if it wasn’t anything big. What if it really was just homework? Then he would have to explain to Lance why he went to the police over something to small. He would have to explain to Lance that he was so worried about him he went to the police instead of just doing the rational thing and talking to him first. Then when Lance would inevitably ask why Keith was so worried he would have to spill the beans about how after only a month of knowing him, Keith wanted to jump Lance every time he saw him shirtless, wanted to kiss Lance everytime he smiled, and wanted to hold Lance and keep him safe whenever he saw Rolo. That was something Keith could not do. Never under any circumstances. 

So in the end, Shiro was helpful even if not in the way Keith had originally hoped for. He would talk to Lance. He had to. 

There was one problem Keith realized with the talk to Lance situation. It was not saturday and neither he or Lance had work today, so Keith wasn’t set to see him. He could always text but he felt this was something better done face to face so Lance didn’t have any opportunities to dodge the question. He also didn’t want to invite Lance out just to ask because if Lance got upset and defensive he may never agree to hang out with Keith again, which was something he couldn’t have happen. He knew Lance would be at Rolo’s party the next night, and even though he’d told Lance he wouldn’t go, he knew he had to go back on that word. For his own sanity he needed to figure out what was going on. 

 

 

Rolo’s party was- terrible. Awful. Horrible. Keith entered the front of the house and was immediately met with loud music, drunk teenagers, and the smell of weed. Gross. A few kids bumped into him as he made his way through the house in search of Lance. His eyes scanned the crowd, from the kitchen, to the living room, to the back patio but he couldn’t find Lance. Or Rolo for that matter which sent his stomach churning. 

“Anyone seen Rolo? He’s got something I need”, Keith asked trying to seem like one of the douchey kids just looking for a weed hookup or something. Last thing he needed was Rolo’s entourage hounding him or throwing him out.

“Upstairs with some dude, probably smokin- if that’s what you’re lookin’ for.”, he heard a kid answer. He nodded and made his way to the large staircase in the living room. There were a lot of rooms upstairs so the next challenge came in the form of figuring out which one Lance was in. He attempted to open the first door but found it was locked.

“OCUPADO!”, He heard from the inside. Well, he didn’t find Lance but he did find the bathroom- so… there was that. He moved to open the second door but saw a random girl walk in there and assumed that it must have been empty other than her. So he moved to the third door. Honestly he wished he’d never opened that one. He saw some couple getting their freak on it was something he definitely _didn’t_ need to see. He moved the fourth door and as he put his hand to the door knob he heard a muffled voice.

“S-stop- you’ve never”, The voice got cut off before came through again, “Please- don’t! You said you wouldn’t- Please! R-”, The voice then stopped and faded into muffled cries. Keith’s heart pounded in his chest and palms began to sweat and his legs shook. He wasn’t sure if he was going to pass out of throw up when he came to a realization. That was Lance’s voice. 

Keith pushed at the door but found it was locked, “Mmph!”, Came through the door, and Keith summoned all his strength to push through the door, breaking the lock as it flew open and slammed against the wall. If Keith thought door number three was horrific, then door number four was straight up the end of the world. 

Lance was crying, being held down, Rolo shoving his fingers down Lance’s throat while putting a condom on in front of Lance’s bare ass. Keith saw red. His fist went flying hitting Rolo square in the jaw. Rolo fell off Lance but Keith wasn’t finished. His fist connected with Rolo’s face again and again and again and again until his hand was coated in blood. When he finally let’s up Rolo is out cold. His face bloody and bruised. Keith turns to see Lance had moved off the bed pulled his pants back up and cowered in a corner on the far side of the room. 

Lance looked at Keith through tears while Keith rushed over to his side, “Lance.”, He said kneeling, “Are you okay?”, He worried. Lance swallowed and nodded, staring at Rolo’s unconscious body, “He didn’t-”, Keith stopped his words, unsure of how to say it, “He didn’t… do it right?”, Lance shook his head and Keith let out a breath, “I- I should- I’m going to call my brother.”, Lance didn’t say anything. He just stared and wept. 

“Shiro- Shiro- I need you to get over here- I’ll explain when you- Shiro please get over here. Yes I know you’re on duty that’s the point! And bring backup.”, Keith hung up his phone and looked at Lance, his heart breaking inside his chest, “Lance…”, He spoke. 

“H-how did- why did you-”, Was all Lance managed to get out before he broke out into another sob and buried his face in Keith’s chest, “I- he was- and I-”, He tried to form coherent sentences but couldn’t, “Never- and then- I couldn’t- but then.”

“He won’t hurt you anymore. I promise- I’ll never let him hurt you again.”, Keith said softly. He wrapped his arms around Lance and pulled him close. Lance still sobbing as the red and blue lights began to flash outside. 

 

 

“Keith what the hell!?”, Shiro shouted as the two finally arrived home that night, “What were you thinking!? I told you to go to the police first! But do you ever listen to me?! What if you had gotten hurt? What if Lance had gotten hurt?”, He yelled.

“Lance did get hurt! This has been going on since at least the beginning of school- _I_ did what I had to do!”, Keith shouted back.

“You assaulted the guy- Yes- he was _very **Very**_ wrong! But you know the law now he can sue-”

“You think a judge would actually listen to that case!?”

“Keith!”, Shiro sighed, “I’m not mad- actually I’m really proud of you for saving Lance- but I’m worried. That was reckless and you know it.”, Keith sighed and turned back towards the door, “Where are you going!?”, Shiro yelled.

“Out.”, Keith grit.

 

 

Keith honestly didn’t know where he was going. But he somehow found himself at Altea, he walked towards the private beach area, and saw a dark figure sitting by the water, staring at the moon overhead. He stopped walking when he saw it was Lance. He stared for a moment before Lance who hadn’t even turned around at this point spoke, “He said he loved me.”, He said quietly. Keith was startled.

“What?”, He asked softly.

“Rolo.”, Lance clarified, “He told me he loved me.”, Lance finally turned around and looked at Keith with sad eyes and a frown, “When he and I met- before it got to… that point. And I believed him.” The water washed up to Lance’s feet and Lance’s attention turned back from Keith toward the water. Keith moved to sit next to Lance.

“Why didn’t you say anything- go to the police?”

Lance frowned, “We used to date then when I tried to break things off- he showed me a gun. He said he would hurt himself if I ever left him, because he loved me that much.”, Lance said, the falsity of that statement evident in his voice, “So I stayed. And- it was okay for a little. But then- he… he wanted more.”

“Has he- tried to- before?”

“No.”, Lance clarified, “Well… I mean- never… He’s never tried to take it that far before. Normally he’d just ask for a blowjob or something. I never wanted- When he wanted more I tried to stop it again. But he didn’t use his life as leverage anymore- he used my family’s.”

“So everytime he mentioned them-”

“A threat.”, He said. 

“I’m so sorry Lance.”, Keith said.

“It’s not your fault…”, He said as he buried his feet in the sand, “I just- I didn’t know what to do, so I let it happen-”

“No.”, Keith said, “Don’t start doing that.”, He turned to face Lance, “Rolo was nothing but an asshole- a _rapist_! You didn’t _let_ anything happen. This wasn’t your fault.”, Lance remained quiet and didn’t look at Keith. Keith grabbed Lance’s face and made him turn to look at Keith, “He can’t hurt you anymore- I won’t let him hurt you- I won’t let anyone hurt you. This is Rolo’s fault.”

Lance began to cry again, and Keith moved his thumb to wipe at the tears. Lance nuzzled his face into Keith’s hand, “Thank you.”, He said, “Thank you.”, Lance moved to wrap his arms around Keith and pulled him into a tight hug.

“I’ll never let anything happen to you Lance. Never.”


	7. Insert Heart Emoji Here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment!

“Why were you at the party?”, Lance asked quietly as the waves continued to crash around his feet, “I mean- you said you weren’t going to go.”

“I- um…”, Keith suddenly felt a blush creep up his neck, remembering how worried he was about Lance, “I knew- well I overheard you and Rolo talking the other day.”, Keith replied. The two sat so that their shoulders touched but neither of them were looking at each other. The night sky hiding every subtle movement the other made, “I heard him threaten you.”

“Oh…”, Lance almost sounded disappointed, no- that wasn’t the right word. More like- sadly surprised, “I-...”, He trailed off, unsure of what to say next. 

“How long had this been going on?”, Keith asked softly. He didn’t want to push Lance but curiosity got the better him. 

“Since he started threatening my family for sexual favors or since he and I had first dated?”, Lance asked for him to clarify.

“The- the first part.”

“A little over a year.”

“Lance…”, Keith said softly turning to look at Lance. Lance sighed sadly and leaned his head onto Keith’s shoulder.

“I can’t ever repay you for what you did for me.”, he said delicately. Keith felt his shoulder become wet and realized Lance had once again begun crying. It made Keith physically hurt inside. He wanted to kiss the tears off his face.

“It’s over now, you don’t have to think about it anymore.”, Keith replied leaning his head on top of Lance’s, relishing in the closeness and the intimacy of the moment. Lance felt comfortable enough to be vulnerable like this around Keith and it made Keith feel fuzzy inside, like after nearly two months he’d finally made some progress with the object of his affections. It made him feel like Lance wasn’t untouchable anymore, he was real with real faults and insecurities. Like he was attainable. Like he had so much love to give, and maybe Keith could receive some of it. 

“My mom and dad are pressing charges.”, Lance said, “So I’ll have to see him in court- I’ll have to relive all that for the police and a judge.”, Keith bit his lip. Lance was right- but, he still needed to say something. Anything to help him. 

“And then he’ll go to Juvy- or hey, we’re seventeen- maybe he’ll get tried as an adult and go away for a _Very_ long time.”, Lance hummed in sarcastic amusement, as if he didn’t believe Rolo would face his karma, “It’s really late. C’mon, I’ll walk you home. I bet your parents are worried after what happened.” Lance nodded and took Keith’s extended hand, coming up to a stand. 

The walk to Lance’s home was quiet and quick. The cool night air nipping at the tips of their noses but the heat radiating off each other enough to keep them warm. They stopped in front of Lance’s front door and as Keith said goodbye Lance leaned in and placed a fast, chaste kiss to Keith’s cheek before thanking him and walking inside. 

 

 

Keith sat on his bed, a hand to his cheek, eyes wide, and replaying the moment over and over and over in his head. It also then hit him that he now knew what Lance looked like underneath his pants. Granted it was because of a terrible situation, of which Keith derived no pleasure, but now he didn’t have to imagine. Now he’d seen it all with his own eyes. He sighed into his hands trying to will the image out of his head. Thinking about it made him feel wrong and dirty. 

He wondered if Lance was truly going to be okay. How could someone be ‘okay’ after going through a year of that? A year of Rolo treating him like his sex doll. A year of his family being threatened if he didn’t comply. A year of sneaking around and crying behind closed doors. How could anyone be okay after that. As Keith turned off the light and crawled into bed his phone lit up beside him.

 

**From: _Lance <3_**

**My mom wants you to come for dinner sometime so she can thank you in person**

Keith heart pounded in his chest. A family dinner with the McClains? Had Keith died and gone to heaven. Family dinner was something special, it wasn’t shared with just anyone. Especially the McClain family dinner. Lance had recounted how it took four years for Hunk to be invited to one of the legendary feasts and how Pidge had never been invited.They were exclusive, not to be shared with just any old bloke off the street. 

**To: _Lance <3_**

**Not necessary**

Keith hated himself. It was a McClain family dinner. The thing he’d wanted to see for two months now, with the person he’d wanted to date for two months now- AND HE JUST TURNED IT DOWN. He’d never considered himself a person with any regrets, except now he had a regret. He regretted that he’d gone against every fiber of his being, and regretted that now he’d likely never get another shot. 

**From: _Lance <3_**

**My mom isn’t going to take no for an answer. Monday night good?**

Apparently the Gods favoured Keith because despite his sheer and utter stupidity he was receiving a second chance. He grinned ear to ear and was thankful for not only his dark room but lack of people in said dark room because he was smiling like an idiot. 

**To: _Lance <3_**

**Sounds great, I could just go back with you after school?**

There was a long pause after that text and Keith wondered if maybe Lance had gone to bed. He wouldn’t have blamed him, it was nearing four in the morning, and after the night he had- Lance deserved some rest. Lance deserved more than just some rest. He deserved peace, quiet, safety, love- He deserved the world and more served to him on a silver platter and Keith wanted to be the one to give that to him. Boy did Kogane have it bad. 

**From: _Lance <3_**

**I probably won’t be at school this week**

**From: _Lance <3_**

**Or work**

Right, right of course he wouldn’t be. Who would just jump right into things after that? 

**To: _Lance <3_**

**Course, just let me know what time I should be there**

**From: _Lance <3_**

**4:30, night Keith**

**To: _Lance <3_**

**Night**

**From: _Lance <3_**

**< 3**

 

 

 

OH HOLY SHIT! Lance just sent him a heart emoji. A heart freaking emoji. From LANCE. LANCE! Okay, Keith was not prepared for that. That wasn’t something casual friends did- or was it? Keith never had had many casual friends so of course he wouldn’t really know- besides Lance was straight- WAIT. 

It was in that moment that Keith realised he was totally and absolutely head over heels and subsequently fucked. It was one thing to be in love- yes, Keith was pretty sure he was in love at this point (Dude falls hard and fast) anyway, it’s one thing to be in love with a straight dude. Because there is always that knowledge that it just won’t ever happen, there’s not chance. The love is there, but it’ll go away eventually because nothing will ever come of the relationship. That’s how the past few weeks had been with Keith and Lance, but now- now Keith knew Lance was bisexual. Or pansexual- or something that put him under the spectrum of liking both girls _AND_ boys. Now Keith knew Lance could feel attraction for him. Now there was a chance, a small light of hope shimmered and Keith wished it would go out. Save him the pain of rejection. 

But now here he was staring a heart emoji from the man he desired most. He was not prepared for this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment!


	8. A Lifetime of Happiness Promised in a Single Word

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FAMILY DINNER YO!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment! I love reading all of them!

Keith entered Altea surf Sunday afternoon for his regularly scheduled shift. He was a bit disappointed knowing that Lance wouldn’t be there, but understood given the circumstances that Lance needed to take time for himself. Although after countless texts back and forth between the two Keith learned that Lance was only staying home at his mother’s wishes. He revealed that he’d like for things to go back to normal as soon as possible. He didn’t like feeling helpless, and the whole situation with Rolo had made Lance feel just that way. Lance had revealed to Keith his nervousness about the way people at school might look at him after they found out, and would rather get the stares and cold shoulders over with rather than continue to put them off to appease his overbearing mother. 

**From: _Lance <3_**

**I should let you get to work**

Keith pouted at his phone, he and Lance had been talking almost non-stop since what Keith had dubbed ‘The Incident’, and while he loved that Lance was trying to be considerate he didn’t want to stop talking with him. He’d rather get chewed out by Coran than stop talking to Lance. He had typed in ‘But I like talking to you’, but ultimately decided it was too telling of his affections and deleted in. Instead typing out a safer message. 

**To: _Lance <3_**

**K- text you when I get off**

 

The rest of Sunday and most of Monday flew by faster than Keith would have liked. He was nervous for the dinner. Who wouldn’t be. He was dressed, kinda nice. Well, nicer than normal. He had on a long red sweater and some black jeans- was he overdressed? Was he _underdressed_? He couldn’t do this, he had to leave- was it too late to leave? He’d already knocked on the door- OF COURSE IT WAS TOO LATE TO LEAVE. He took a breath gathering his courage. He could do this. He heard lots of yelling coming from the otherside of the door, followed by a large crash and various spanish phrases in a particularly annoyed tone before a girl, probably about 14, opened the door. 

“You must be Keith!”, She smiled, “C’mon in!”, She grabbed his arm and yanked him into the room, almost tripping him in the process, “Everyone’s in the living room- oh and watch out cause Marco dropped a bowl of spaghetti sauce and it spilled and shattered everywhere.”, Two seconds in and Keith was already extremely overwhelmed. For the longest time it was just him and Shiro, now they’d added Allura but things around the Kogane-Takashi household were still pretty quiet. Now he’d taken one step into the McClain household and it was like an assault on all of his senses. 

First off there was the smell, it was a mix of sea salt candles, homemade food, and various cleaning supplies. But it didn’t smell bad- actually it smelled really comforting and Keith found himself taking deep inhales just to continue to flood his nostrils with the intoxicating smell. Then there was the noise- the yelling hadn't stopped since Keith had entered the house. In fact they’d done the opposite and had gotten louder. He heard five distinct voices. One he’d recognized as Lance’s, one as a toddler, and the other as some small child. The other two voices he assumed to be Lance’s parents and that’s when the realization set in that he was actually in Lance’s house about to meet his parents. 

The girl leading Keith throughout the house suddenly stopped in front of a door where the voices seemed to be emanating from and turned to face Keith, “Before I throw you into the mess that’s beyond this door I just want to say thank you.”, Her smile faltered and turned to a more serious expression, “Lance is- he doesn’t like to ask for help. He’ll suffer in silence if it means someone else is safe. He never would have said anything to us- so… if you hadn’t done anything, well I don’t know what would have happened. So thank you. You’re good to him. You’re good for him.”, Keith nodded, unsure of what to say or do, or of what the implications of those words were, but the girl in front of him pushed through the door before he was finally able to put all the pieces together. The door opened and suddenly all eyes were suddenly on Keith.

He looked around the room and his eyes landed on Lance who looked at him with a small smile and those blue eyes that could make a heart melt. He hadn’t seen Lance since that night when they were both at the beach. And, he looked- tired. He looked mentally exhausted. It made Keith’s heart break a little, but Lance also looked strong, and determined. Like no matter what came his way he’d find a way to weather the storm. And that made Keith swell with pride. Lance was a fighter, he wouldn’t let this define him. 

 

“He really does have a mullet!”, A boy, maybe 8 or 9 laughed earning a scolding from again what was presumed to be Lance’s father. 

“Mullet!”, Another boy - the toddler- said attempting to crawl over to Keith but was instead scooped up into the 14 year old girl’s arms who merely laughed at his eagerness. Keith stood there awkwardly fidgeting, unsure of what to do with himself and feeling those once nerve wracking butterflies in his stomach turn to vultures tearing away at his insides. He was going to die here. He couldn’t do this- what made him think he could do this?

“Hey- I’m the only one allowed to call him Mullet, Louis.”, Lance laughed pointing a finger at his younger brother who giggled and attempted to tug on the girl’s hair. Lance really hadn’t briefed him on any part of his family so Keith was essentially going into this whole thing blind. He didn’t know what to expect or what personalities to prepare for.   
“Nice to meet you Keith.”, Lance’s father smiled kindly, that eased Keith’s nerves slightly. Keith took the extended hand and shook- remembering what Shiro had always said about a firm handshake and making sure to make a good impression with it.

“Hi Keith! I’m Marco!”, The 8 or 9 year old boy smiled also extending his hand in attempt to imitate his father. Keith gave a small smile before shaking Marco’s hand, with less vigor than his handshake with Mr. McClain of course. 

“Hey Keith.”, Lance smiled. Keith smiled back, “So introductions!”, He laughed quietly, “That’s my dad Raymond, my mom Rosa, my sister Veronica, and my brother’s Marco and Louis.”

“Nice to meet you all.”, Keith said sheepishly.

“Oh don’t be so shy!”, Rosa spoke loudly enveloping Keith in a hug, “No need to be so nervous around us- we don’t bite.”

“Plus it’s not like you have to worry about embarrassing yourself or anything, Lance talks about you non-stop so you’re basically God status in this house.”, Veronica laughed earning a glare from Lance. Keith felt his face heat up slightly, why would Lance talk about Keith all the time? She must have meant since the incident, that was the only idea Keith could entertain without his brain and stomach beginning to do somersaults. 

“After what you did you’re a part of the family, you don’t get nervous around family!”, Rosa smiled patting him on the back. Keith nodded but remained quiet. That whole sequence had really just ended up making him more nervous. Talk about irony. 

“Now that our guest has arrived, let’s eat- shall we?” 

 

 

“So Keith”, Veronica spoke softly towards the boy across from her while the rest of the table entertained in a conversation about why soccer players don’t wear cups, Lance had just gotten up to use the bathroom, “You’re gay right?”

“W-what?”, Keith was a little stunned but her forwardness, but he’d give her one thing. Kids got gumption, “Yeah? Does it matter?”, Last thing Keith needed was Lance’s sister to be homophobic. He’d just started to get somewhere with Lance and that could really throw an unneeded wrench into his plans. 

“No, not really”, Keith let out a breath as she spoke those words, “Just, curious.”, She took another bite of spaghetti, “Well actually it does matter a little. Cause you like my brother and all.”

“E-excuse me?”, How the fuck could she read him so easily they’d known each other for all of an hour, there was no way she knew Keith was head or heels for Lance.

“You aren’t fooling anyone. The way you look at him, and I’ve read some of your text conversations- You are way too cautious when texting him. Because you have something to hide.”, She paused to take a sip of water, “And it’s either a crush or a dead body, and I mean- you don’t _look_ like a psycho killer, but then again they never do.”

“S-so what? I would never do anything to hurt h-”

“I know.”, She said, “And don't worry- I’m not going to tell him.”, Keith let out another long exhale, “I just wanted to let you know I approve.”, Keith was going to admit it, he did not expect that. He’d assume she’d be the type of sister who’d slit the throat of anyone who tried to get close to her brother especially after learning about what Rolo did, “But love isn’t going to be enough for Lance.”, She shrugged, “Cause he’s heard that broken promise before.”, That struck a chord with Keith, “Lance wants forever, not just now.”

 

 

 _Forever_. Lance wanted a _forever_. Keith remembered the words his parents had said to him so long ago. The words his brain had all but forgotten. _Forever_. ‘Love is an emotion, it comes and goes. It changes with the winds and the tides. Love doesn’t always remain. That’s why we can’t say it. It just doesn’t mean anything to us- not anymore. But _forever_ , that’s concrete. That never fades, that stands the test of time. _Forever_ is a lifetime of happiness promised in a single word.’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment if you enjoyed! It means a lot and I love to read what you guys have to say


	9. Don't Get Shy on Me Now, Kogane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> NEXT CHAPPY GONE BE GOODDD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment! Means a lot!

“I’m sorry for them. They can be a lot of you aren’t used to it.”, Lance whispered to Keith as they helped with the dishes. 

“It’s okay. They’re nice, it’s a nice change from Shiro and Allura.”, Keith reassured.

“So Keith!”, Lance’s father smiled, “Would you like to play a board game with u-”

“Actually!”, Lance intervened, “I was gonna go show Keith Blue! If that’s okay.”, He smiled pleadingly. Raymond looked at his son for a moment before nodding with a sigh.

“But be careful! She’s still recovering!”, Lance nodded and waved him off before pulling Keith out towards the back door. Keith struggled to keep up, he’d never seen Lance like this, he looked- he looked so excited. His blue eyes shining as the moonlight hit them.

Lance’s house was right up against the ocean, and behind it was a large building that went over the water. From the front of the house it was hard to tell exactly what it was, Keith assumed it was like a harbour or something- cause it wasn’t a normal building, it was more like a dock with a tent over it- But the purpose of the ‘building’ had become apparent the closer they got to it. Lance’s backyard was less of a backyard and honestly more of a forest. Keith had learned his mother was an avid gardener and the backyard with literally nothing but different types of plants. But there was a small path leading to the edge of the water and the door of the building. 

“If you have this right next to your house, why do you go to Altea so often?”, Keith found himself asking as Lance finally slowed from a sprint to a walk.

“Well for one we don’t really ever get good waves over here- and…”, Lance’s voice became softer and Keith wondered if he’d hit another landmine in conversation, “I love my family- don’t get me wrong, but sometimes you just need a break you know. I go to the beach to get away from everything. And that means _everything_. Sometimes you just need to be alone. Can’t really ever get that here.”, He laughed somberly. 

“I get it. But- sometimes that’s”, Keith was really trying to channel his inner Shiro, “Sometimes being alone isn’t wasn’t best for us.”

Lance laughed, “Now you sound like my dad.”

“More like my older brother.”, Keith rolled his eyes, “I’m serious though- if you feel like you need to get away from it all- call me. Even if all we do is sit in silence I’ll be there for you.”, Keith’s words caught up with his brain and he await the part where Lance called him weird and said he’d never do that.

Instead he was met with, “Thanks. It means a lot- coming from you.”

Keith took a shaky breath, “I mean it- I’ll always be there for you.”

“Jeez Keith- You’re making me blush.”, Lance laughed as he playfully punched Keith’s shoulder. Keith smiled a bit and pushed his shoulder back against Lance’s in retaliation.

“So, what’s blue?”, Keith asked realizing the reason they came out there in the first place.

“I’ll show you- and it’s not what, it’s who.”, Lance corrected. Keith was intrigued to say the least as he followed Lance into the ‘building’. There were a few branching off rooms but Lance pushed out a back door back outside. There was a small platform the two were standing on before it dropped off revealing the ocean below. The area was covered by an awning and as Keith’s eyes scanned the area- it was revealed the the water was closed off. So ocean water could freely flow in and out, but if there was a creature inside it would be sectioned in. Speaking of creatures there was suddenly a spurt of water from the far end of the pool and something made ripples towards them. Keith jumped as the noise was unexpected, “Don’t worry, Blue won’t bite!”, Lance chuckled. He got on his knees and reached a hand into the water making waves.

“What is Blue?”, Keith asked crunching down beside Lance.

“She’s-”, Blue popped her head out of the water and Lance’s hand rose up with it, resting atop her forehead, “A dolphin!”, Blue nuzzled against Lance’s hands and made a clicking noise.

“Wow.”, Keith breathed, “You have a pet dolphin?”

“Not exactly.”, Lance laughed, “I couldn’t imagine keeping a creature so magnificent trapped for her life.”, Lance pet Blue’s nose, “My dad’s a marine biologist, and he runs this healing center. We take in injured animal’s, nurse them back to health, and then release them back into the wild.”

“What happened to Blue?”, Keith asked.

“Run in with a nasty blacktip.”, Lance said, “Here-”, He grabbed Keith’s hand and pulled it towards Blue before the two touched and Keith was able to relax a bit, “She’ll be good to go in a two weeks. My dad’s been treating her for about a month now.”

“Wow.”, Keith repeated finding himself getting lost in the feeling of petting a dolphin.

“That’s really adorable.”, Lance said. Keith looked up at him confused.

“What?”

“Your face- while you were petting her. You looked cute.”, He smiled. Keith felt his whole face go bright red, “Aww- you’re blushing.”

“N-no I’m not.”, He sputtered trying to hide his face in his hair.

“Yes you are! I got the emo Keith Kogane to blush!”, Lance smiled.

“I’m not emo-”

“Oh please, you’re like the color black and Billy ray cyrus had a kid who felt ‘misunderstood by the mainstream media’.”

“What?”, Keith asked trying to hide his laughter because he had to admit it- that was a good one, “Oh my god! Why are we even friends.”, Keith smiled.

“Because no one can resist my charms.”

“Yeah, charms. Let’s go with that.”

“You love me and you know it!”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night Lance.”

“Don’t even try to deny it! I’ll fight you- you know that right?”

“Please, I’d like to see you try.”, Keith laughed, “Lance, look at yourself and then look at me. I bench press like 180 every day. I’d snap you in half.”

“Them’s fightin’ words!”, Lance lunged at Keith and the two began a playful wrestling match, each fighting for dominance. Lance looped his leg around Keith’s waist and pushed attempting to get Keith on his back. Keith retaliated by grabbing the leg and pushing it into Lance’s stomach using sheer force to knock him on his back. The two took a moment to catch their breaths, Keith looking into Lance’s eyes as he looked down from above, “Where’s you’re phone?”, Lance panted.

“Back in the house I think.”, Keith said questioningly.

“Good.”, Lance smiled before pushing up with all his weight and throwing himself and Keith into the water. Blue swimming circles around them as they fell in, “I win!”, Lance yelled triumphantly as the two resurfaces. 

“You cheated!”, Keith laughed pointing an accusatory finger.

“Pfft, I strategized.”, He laughed.

“Sure, call it what you want.”, Keith pushed out of the water, “Now my clothes are all heavy.”, Keith complained.

“Just do what I’m doing.”, Lance said as he stripped off his shirt. Keith had to do a double take as Lance also began undoing his belt. Oh god if he went any further Keith may just have an aneurysm. Lance kept his boxers ON, and wrapped a nearby towel around his waist before looking back at Keith, “Oh c’mon don’t get shy on me now Kogane.”, Lance winked. Okay was he trying to kill Keith tonight? Was that his goal? Cause if it was? He was _succeeding_.

 

 

“How was dinner- woah, what happened to you?”, Shiro asked as Keith trudged through the front door half naked with his dripping clothes in hand.

“Hey Shiro-?”, Keith asked not even making eye contact but instead just staring at the floor.

“Yeah?”

“He is the boy of my fucking dreams.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I read all of your comments! They mean a lot!


	10. So Much for Normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SHIT GET'S REAL

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment!

“Lance!”, Hunk smiled wrapping Lance in a hug, “Good to see your back!”, He cheered. Lance smiled up at Hunk and placed a hand on his arm.

“Good to be back.”, He said, “Just want things to go back to normal, y’know?”

“Now I don’t have to be alone for two person labs.”, Pidge chimed in.

“Oh please, it was _one_ lab! You had to do _one_ by yourself. So don’t be such a baby.”, Hunk replied earning a chuckle from Lance. 

“Yes, you can have Hunk back for labs. I’ll do mine with Keith.”, He smiled in Keith’s direction. Keith smiled back praying that his face wasn’t very red- though it probably was, “Well, we better get going or it’s gonna be detention for us.”, Lance said- his smile faltering a bit. Hunk and Pidge nodded heading in the direction of their first period classes.

“You okay?”, Keith asked before Lance could make his escape.

“Yeah-”, Keith raised an eyebrow and deadpanned him. Lance sighed and gave in, “I’m nervous- I just want to get this day over with. It’ll be better tomorrow, but I know it’s going to awkward around everyone. I just don’t want everyone to look at me like I need to be pitied.”

“I’m here for you. It’ll be okay- and no one’s going to pity you.”, Keith said, though they both knew deep down that last part was probably untrue. 

“Thanks mullet.”, Lance joked, and though Keith normally hated that name it was the first time he’d heard it out of Lance’s mouth since everything happened, so he supposed it was a good sign. 

“Now get to class before your late.”

“Okay- now you _really_ sound like my dad.”

 

“Plaxum totally gave me her number!”, Lance groaned.

“Isn’t that a good thing? You’ve been crushing on her for what- five years?”, Hunk asked. The group walked the halls at the end of the day on their way to Lance’s car, all of them planning to hang at Altea while Hunk had his shift. Keith decided he hated this conversation. He didn’t want to hear about Lance’s escapades with other people- he wanted more of his and Lance’s- flirting? Keith thought they were flirting but to be honest he wasn’t quite sure. He’d never really been good at deciphering that kind of thing. It wasn’t like he was bad at flirting, in fact Keith considered himself very good at flirting, but after a relationship was established. He couldn’t flirt with someone if he didn’t know that flirting was okay. 

“Yeah- but like, she looked at me like I was some wounded puppy! I want her number because she likes me. Not because she wants me to call her if I need to cry.”, He grumbled, “Plus I’m pretty sure she just wants the scoop on the trial next week for her stupid blog.”

“Stupid blog? Lance last month you called it a work of art.”, Pidge raised an eyebrow.

“She posted pics of her summer vacay. Plaxum in a bikini is a work of art. Plaxum trying to use me for info, not as artsy.”. Keith chuckled a bit and went to grab his phone to let Shiro know where he’d be. But instantly started panicking when he couldn’t find it.

“You good Keith?”, Hunk asked noticing the struggle.

“Yeah, just- can’t find my phone. I think I left it in my locker.”, He groaned, “You guys go on ahead, I’ll run and grab it and meet you guys at the car.”, The three of them nodded and continued on as Keith lightly jogged towards the third floor D hallway where his locker was unfortunately placed. The hallways were essentially empty as the students had all already gone home- The four of them had to stay half an hour late to clean up a lab AGAIN. And all of the teachers had monday afternoon meetings in the administration building across the street, which meant all students had to be out by 3:50. He groaned as he stepped up the last stair and rounded the corner to be met with, five people all standing outside his locker, masked.

“Forget something Kogane?”, One of them asked holding up his phone. Keith narrowed his eyes, who were they and how the hell did they get his phone?

“What’s all this?”, He asked cautiously. 

“Just a gathering between friends.”, Another one spoke innocently, “Least, that’s all it has to be, right?”, He shrugged though his tone was clearly one trying to intimidate Keith. And he had to admit it was working. 

“First things first-”, Another one piped up, “You’re going to tell the dweeb squad something came up- and you aren’t going to be meeting.”

“Why the hell would I need to do that?”, Keith asked showing a bit of bite in his tone.

“Cause, we wouldn’t want things to get ugly.”, The one holding his phone said lifting his hoodie up slightly. Keith saw a gun. He swallowed, “What’s the password Kogane?”, He asked with a fake smile.

“I’ll do it-”, Keith attempted. If he could get to his phone he could text Shiro instead of his friends. 

“Ah- nice try. But I’d like to send the text if you please. Don’t worry, I won’t snoop. Scouts honor.”, Keith grimaced, and clenched his fists. He needed a way out of this. But with the gun in the picture he really didn’t see any good opportunities, and he didn’t know if any others in the group were packing, “Password. Now.”, He ordered.

Keith clenched his teeth, “0823.”, The guy holding his phone typed in the password and presumably went to send a text.

“Yo, check this out- Lance has got a heart next to his name.”, He laughed showing it to the guy next to him who also laughed, “Explains a lot doesn’t it boys. Maybe we should leave Kogane and just take this up with him-”, 

“You touch him and I’ll fucking rip your throats out!”

“Relax, we’re not going after him- yet.”, He joked before presumably typing in the text and sending it off, “Now that that’s taken care of.”, He threw the phone to the ground and smashed it with his foot.

“Hey!”, Keith shouted as he took a step forward but another guy also brandished a gun he was carrying and Keith knew to say back, “Who the hell are you people-!”

“Us?”, The main one asked with a shit eating grin on his face, “Oh, you don’t know us. We’ve got a- let’s call it mutual acquaintance.”, Keith furrowed his brows confused, “Rolo.”

“Are you fucking kidd-”

“Shut up kid. Let us finish- then it’ll be your turn.”, He cut Keith off, “Look, we don’t like Rolo. And what he did to that Lance kid, yeah, that shit’s fucked up. However, Rolo was one of my biggest clients. And him going to prison doesn’t really bode well for my bank account. Your little act of ‘heroism’ is costing me and my buddies 10 grand a month. I’ve got tons of extra supply now, and let me tell you, there ain’t enough addicts in the city to make up for all the shit Rolo used to by from me.”

“So I’m about to get shot by a bunch of drug dealers who are defending a rapist.”, Keith grit.

“For one we ain’t defending that fucker. Hated him as much as the next guy, and I don’t condone rape, but Rolo liked to get his fix while getting a blow job so I don’t judge when it comes to cash. And the second thing is, we ain’t gonna shoot ya- Just rough you up a bit. You know how it is, can’t let people go around thinking they can mess with my money.”, Keith backed up until his back hit the lockers and he realised he was surrounded and the last thing he heard before he was hit by a flying fist was, “I’m sure you understand.”

 

 

Keith considered himself a good fighter, but when up against five guys with guns, there was very little he could do to defend himself. Keith woke up on the floor of the hallway when a janitor was frantically shaking him, “Oh thank god you’re not dead. Hold on kid, helps on the way.”, He said. Keith squinted and attempted to move but found sharp pain all over his body. His right eye felt swollen, and he could see blood on his hands and his whole body felt bruised. He went in and out of consciousness before finally being able to stay away at the hospital when Shiro and Allura came rushing in. 

“Keith! Are you okay?”, His brother asked. Keith nodded, the official damage had been two broken fingers various bruises and cuts throughout the rest of his body but other than that no substantial damage, “Thank god. Now- What the fuck happened!?”, He asked angrily.

“Shiro- calm down.”, Allura attempted.

“I don’t really know.”, Keith said softly, “I just got, jumped- I guess.”

“By who?”

“Don’t know. They were wearing masks.”

“God damnit Keith, I told you- you can’t fight people. You have to call the police.”

“They broke my phone. And I didn’t throw the first punch.”

“I’m getting detective Iverson in here. You’re giving your story to him- and Sam Holt. We’re figuring out who did this to you.”

 

 

Keith stared at the wall from his hospital bed. The doctor had said he’d be discharged in the morning, ‘ _So much for Lance’s wish of normal_ ’, Keith thought. He glanced at the clock, 9:49 PM. He layed back down with a flop and regretted the harsh move as it hurt rather badly. Allura had gone home, and Shiro was filling out paperwork for the police and the hospital when he heard a knock at his door. It was Lance. He looked sad, “You okay?”, He asked quietly, pulling up a seat next to Keith’s bed. Keith nodded, “I don’t mean to intrude- but the police said if I was here it’d be easier to keep an eye on us both.”, Keith nodded understandingly. Shiro had decided Lance better come here too just incase the threat made by the five men against Lance actually held some truth. 

The two sat in silence for a few moments before Lance sniffled breaking Keith from his thoughts, “Hey- hey what’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry- for- this is all my fault Keith.”, He said as tears spilled from his eyes. His voice remained surprisingly still however, as if he was trying to remain calm but his eyes were betraying him. 

“What are you talking about?”, Keith said up and leaned in to Lance slightly.

“If you had never,”, Lance took a breath, “If you hadn’t helped me- those thugs never would have come after you. I dragged you into this.”

“And if I had the chance to go back in time, I’d do it all the same way.”, Lance’s eyes shot up to meet Keith’s, “Lance- okay, so I’m not great with words but… You’re just- I care about you- and Lance, I’d do anything for you. A few broken fingers never killed anyone- Lance I li-”

“Keith!”, Shiro interrupted. Keith’s heart was beating fast as he looked over to his brother, ‘ _Holy shit was I actually about to confess?_ ’, “Detective’s need your signature on some things.

“Right.” He shook his head, “Right.”, He slowly went to stand as Shiro helped him, “Lance-”, He said looking back, “this isn’t your fault.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love reading all of your comments! They make my day so drop me one!


	11. Is This Our Normal?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's so short! Also drop me a comment!

A week after Keith was beat up, the school had installed cameras in every hallway and gotten rid of the afternoon meetings. They’d also put security posts at every door, and announced a weekly locker search. The district had provided Keith and Shiro with the money to pay for medical bills, however likely only to avoid a lawsuit. 

“You going to work today?”, Lance asked Keith as they walked towards Lance’s car.

“Yeah- it’s like you said last week. I just want things to go back to normal.”, Keith exhaled. Lance smiled and playfully brushed his shoulder against Keith’s. 

“Seems like crazy is normal with us.”, Lance laughed bringing a smile to Keith’s face. 

“Yeah I guess.”, Keith chuckled in response.

“If you two would leave the flirting until _after_ you’ve dropped me off at home- I’d greatly appreciate it.”, Pidge scoffed. 

“We’re not flirting!”, Keith stammered.

“And denial isn't just a river in Egypt.”

 

 

“Keith?”, Lance asked as they were closing up Altea.

“Yeah?”, Keith replied looking up from his sweeping. 

“I-”, He stopped himself, “Nevermind.”, He shook his head.

“What? What is it?”, Keith asked.

“No it’s nothing, it’s stupid.”

“Lance? C’mon, what is it?”

“I just- wanted… Do you want to have another surf lesson?”, Lance asked. Keith saw an unmistakable pink dusting Lance’s cheek and it warmed Keith’s heart, bringing a smile to his face. 

“Why would you think that was stupid?”

“Just, with all that’s happened… Y’know? Thought maybe you’d be over it.”, Lance spoke softly, avoiding eye contact. 

“Let me finish sweeping, and then we can go surf. I’m holding you to that promise of making me an expert.”, Keith smiled. Lance gave him a soft look of affection before nodding. Keith had never swept the floor so fast in his life. There was something about the way Lance had looked at him that told him surfing wasn’t the only thing Lance wanted to talk about. 

The two picked up boards and headed to the water. Keith noticed there was something about the air that night. Normally the Florida night air was humid and gross. But, tonight, it was cool. Not too cold that it deterred them from going in the water, but it made the two boys stand slightly closer to one another than they normally would. For body heat of course. The sky shone bright with the moon and stars. There were so many stars. Back in Chicago there was so much light pollution Keith considered himself lucky if one or two stars managed to shine bright enough to see, and Fort lauderdale had for the most part been no different. But tonight the sky looked as if it was that of an earth before humans. There were hundreds of them. 

Each one of them twinkled against Lance’s blue eyes, and Keith swore he saw the entire cosmos in the two ocean orbs. He melted into them, not even caring that he was staring because there was just something so different about that night. Not even caring when his hands brushed against Lance’s and lingered too long, because Lance wasn’t pulling away. Because that night there was just _something_ different. Something Keith couldn’t seem to put his finger on. Something that seems to be new and familiar all at once. Something that had been building since the very first day Keith arrived in Florida. 

Keith had managed to catch his first wave but upon trying to stand up, he fell into the water, “Oh my god Keith! That was amazing!”, Lance smiled as he swam over to Keith, wrapping him in a hug, “You just caught your first wave! Was it incredible? How did it feel? Were you scared? That looked great!”, Lance was not letting Keith get a single word in and he fought the urge to laugh at Lance’s excitement, “A little more practice and then you’ll be able to stand! This is so cool! Then you can come to competitions with Hunk and I, and- That was so awesome!”, He smiled.  
“It was fun.”, Keith chuckled, he relished in the feeling of being wrapped up in Lance’s arms. Relished in the skin on skin contact. In the way Lance’s body heat warmed him more than a blanket could. And Keith just kept thinking about that _something_. But what was it? Lance pulled away to look Keith in the eyes, but still hugging him. _What was it?_ Keith could’ve sworn he saw Lance’s eye’s flicker down towards his lips. _What was it?_ There was hunger in Lance’s eyes. _What was it?_

“I- uhm… uh-”, Lance breathed quietly. He wrapped his legs around Keith’s torso and pulled their chests flush, “We- should… Um-”, He looked lost. _**What was it?**_ , “Keith- I-... I want.”, Lance couldn’t seem to get a coherent sentence out, “I want-”

“Want?”, Keith asked, his subconscious seemingly understanding something he wasn’t. 

 

“You.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment if you enjoyed! Means a lot! Also sorry for the short chapter.


	12. Once and For All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, I was out of town! Drop me a comment!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment!

“Oh god- Oh god.”, Lance began repeating, his eyes widening and his grip on Keith releasing, “Oh god I can’t believe I just said that- That was so cheesy! Holy shit, that was- oh god. And _OH GOD_ I don’t even know if you like guys! I mean, I’m pretty sure you like guys, cause like you give off that vibe and the way you look at me and talk to me- and oh shit what if you’re not gay and now I’ve just really offended you by telling you that you give off gay vibes- Oh god- Okay, sorry. I made this really awkward. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I’m going to- going to go dry off now, then proceed to crawl into a hole and wish for death because this is literally the worst confession ever and now I’m rambling so yeah, by! Would love to stay but death really seems to be calling me name!”, Lance all but shouted as he started swimming to shore. 

Keith’s mind was essentially spinning, as to be expected given the current situation. Lance liked him, Lance actually liked him. Keith had liked boys before, that was nothing knew- but he’d never felt the way he felt towards Lance before. It was like Keith’s heart was a balloon, at the mercy of Lance. Lance the boy who held the string, he could hold on tight and bring Keith with him through life, or he could let Keith float up to the sun and explode. Whenever Keith was with Lance he felt like he was on cloud nine. Even when it was because of less than ideal circumstances. When they were at the beach the night of the incident, Keith had never felt more at home and at peace with someone in a long while. Keith honestly hadn’t been sure what about Lance made him feel so comfortable, but now- now he knew.

 

Keith didn’t like to talk about his parents. And he liked to think about them even less, but every now and then they’d manage to weasel their way to the forefront of his thoughts. There was a lot, the before, during, and after. And the worst part was that the story was never over. The after was ever growing and would be until the day Keith too met his end however near or far that day may be. But for our purposes we’ll begin with the before. There was a broken promise.

 _ **”We’ll be home soon sweety- We love you honey?”**_.

Be back soon. What empty words those turned out to be. At 4:18 PM, Shiro received a phone call from the hospital. Dead. **Dead**. A car accident, head on collision at 75 miles per hour when a drunk driver entered the highway from the wrong side. It was far more than Keith could handle. At the age of 7, losing his parents. 

Keith thought he’d ruined Shiro’s life. At just 19, having to leave school get a job and raise Keith all on his own. Having to plan his parents funeral instead of studying for finals. Having to work himself silly just to keep Keith out of the foster system. Keith thanked him everyday for two years. 

From then on, Shiro was the only person Keith felt at home with. Shiro was the only person who knew how Keith felt. Freshman year Keith’s boyfriend told him he loved him. The next day Keith broke up with him. Because Keith couldn’t do love. His parents always told Keith, _“You’re part of my forever”_. And the one time they said love they wound up dead. 

 

But Lance- Lance too knew the broken word. He too hated how it stung when it left his mouth. Lance wanted something stronger than love. And to Keith that sounded like forever and eternity in and of itself. 

“Wait!”, he called out proceeding to swim after Lance, “Lance!”, Keith yelled. Lance stopped swimming and turned to face Keith. He held a small frown and avoided eye contact. Sinking into the water to hide his face. Lance looked ready to face rejection, “I’m gay.”, Well that was not what Keith was hoping to say. He wanted to say that Lance’s feelings were returned and that he wants to kiss him- but apparently his mouth had other plans. 

“O-okay… Glad I didn’t offend you…”, Lance said, still looking dejected.

“Like- I like guys.”

“Keith.”, Lance spoke, a small smile appearing on his lips but still his face remaining solem, “I know what it means to be gay.”

“No- Like… Guys. You’re a guy- who I like.”, Keith then smacked his face with his hands as Lance began laughing hysterically, finally understanding the situation, “I’m bad at this- I should start over. But even then it might end up the same way. I’m terrible with words especially when I really like someone and it was kinda easy at first with you cause I was pretty sure you didn’t feel the same way so I could tell myself that I had no chance and keep everything in but now that I know its mutual I’m finding it really hard to keep my composure and now _I’m_ the one rambling-”, Keith stopped and took a breath, meeting Lance’s eyes with his, “We’re a pair aren’t we?”, he laughed. 

“So when you say you’re gay, you’re saying you’re gay for me?”, Lance smiled.

“Gay in general, but also pretty gay for you.”, Keith laughed in return. They stood there in the water smiling like idiots towards each other for what seemed like an eternity.

 

 

“Do we have a lead?”, Shiro asked Iverson after being called into his office. 

“A small one but yes.”, He sighed, “Before I divulge this information I need to be sure you’re not going to let your emotions get the better of you on this one. You’re a promising young officer Shirogane-”

“30 Isn’t young.”, Shiro laughed.

“For a 55 year old, it is.”, Iverson smiled, “but as I was saying, I’m sure you’re going to do great things in the line of duty, but with your younger brother being the victim I need to be sure you’re going to follow protocol and not act on impulse.”

“I can promise you, I won’t let my personal connection to this cloud my judgement.”, Shiro spoke seriously.

“To be sure I’m assigning you a partner for this case-”

“But I already have a partner-”

“Sam Holt is close to the case too. Your brother and his daughter are friends correct?”, He asked earning a nod from Shiro, “So it’s either he gets the case or you do. Not both- and I wanted to be respectful of you and offer the case to you. Your new partner is going to be Kolivan.”

“From the drug department?”, Shiro asked confused.

“But this was assault-”

“And now I get to my lead. Zarkon”

“Keith said these were students-”

“Yes, we have reason to believe he has students working for him.”

“Sir-”

“I cannot disclose the full information of that part of the case just yet, but I can assure you. These thugs were part of Zarkons gang. And unfortunately that means Keith could be in serious danger should they come back again. It’s important that everyone he knows thinks you two haven’t gone to the police with this. This is the first real lead we’ve had in months- It’s time for the Galra empire to fall. Once and for all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment! Means a lot, I read every one of them!


	13. Flirting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment! Means a lot I read them all!

“S-so, what- what now?”, Keith stuttered. His face fully red, as it had been since he and Lance had gotten back inside and gotten dressed. 

“Now, I think I ask you to dinner this Saturday.”, Lance smirked, “C’mon, don’t get shy on me now Kogane.”, Lance winked. Wait- Keith was feeling some extreme deja vu right now. Then it hit him.

“You _were_ flirting the night I was at your house!”, He essentially shouted. 

Lance laughed, “I’ve been flirting since I met you. You think it was a coincidence the first time you saw me I wasn’t wearing a shirt? Dude- Allura had shown me a photo of you a few days before you moved here, and you can ask her my exact words were, ‘this bitch gonna be mine.’”, Keith let out a snort after learning this information.

“I kinda thought you were an asshole when I first met you.”, Keith admitted. Lance feigned to be hurt and put his hand to his heart, giving Keith a pout.

“If you wanted to say no to dinner you didn’t have to be so rude about it.”, He said. 

“I- uh, I’d love to go to dinner with you.”, Keith smiled, “And you insulted my hair right after meeting me- how was that supposed to be considered flirting and not you being an asshole?”

“Well, it was playful banter- and to be fair you do really need a haircut.”, Lance laughed running a hand through Keith’s hair. Keith felt a jolt of electricity run up his spine at Lance’s intimate touch, his face becoming an even darker shade of red. Like that was even possible. Lance’s eyes widened however upon contact and instead of simply tossing his hair and moving on like originally intended, Lance began petting Keith, “It’s soft.”, He commented, continuing to slowly move his hand through the mop of hair, “And sandy.”, he laughed when his fingers brushed an area particularly cand filled, causing some of the grains to fall to the floor, “Alright mullet man, and much as I would love to stay here with you all night, if I’m not back soon my parents will start to worry. Even though I’m pretty sure they’d let me do anything I wanted if I told them it was with you.”, He chuckled.

“W-why?”

“Dude- my family loves you. Like- probably more than me at this point. My mom keeps asking when you’re going to come visit again.”

“Well, I- uhm…”, Keith stuttered.

“Hey, let’s worry about Saturday before another meet the parents, deal?”

“Deal.”, Keith smiled. 

“So it’s a date?”

“It’s a date.”

 

 

“Uh oh, Keith’s wearing his moron smile-”, Shiro commented upon seeing Keith enter the house after his shift at Altea, “What’s going your way?”, He asked, his tone implying to Allura that everytime Keith smiled in this manner it meant something amazing had happened.

“I have a date.”, He smiled flopping onto the couch face first.

“With who?”, Allura asked.

“If his endless pining has given me any idea, I’d say it’s Lance.”, Shiro laughed. Keith nodded and flipped himself over on the couch.

“A date.”, He repeated, “Saturday- he said he’s gonna take me somewhere nice and- OH MY GOD SHIRO!”, Keith shot up, his face going from dopey to horrified, “I literally don’t have anything nice to wear-”

“What?”, Shiro laughed at his reversal without transition, “You’ve got nice cloths-”

“Nuh uh! I’ve got t-shirts, hoodies, and skinny jeans- GOD WHY AM I SUCH EMO TRASH- SHIRO, you’ve gotta let me borrow some clothes.”

“Pretty sure anything I’ve got is gonna be too big on you.”, He pointed out, Keith deflated. 

“Why doesn’t he just buy a suit?”, Allura asked.

“Suits are expensive, so to buy one for one date seems silly.”, Shiro replied.

“Well, he’ll need one for the wedding, so why not purchase it early?”

“ALLURA YOU’RE SO RIGHT!”, Keith shouted, “If I was straight, ten years older, and you weren’t getting married to my brother I would totally kiss you!”, And with that Keith was running down the hall to his bedroom. He opened his computer and went online, searching all his favorite stores for something nice to wear. He needed for this to go perfect. He couldn’t let this date be a flop. Not after all he and Lance had been through. They deserved this- Lance deserved a nice night. 

Keith’s mind began to go back to the moments when he’d seen Lance with Rolo. As Lance had revealed, that horrendous situation had started as a genuine relationship. Wherein Lance was pressured and then eventually threatened into doing things he wasn’t comfortable with. Lance deserved to know that Keith would **_never_** treat him like that. Keith would wait a million years if that’s what Lance wanted. He wouldn’t lay a hand on Lance without consent, he wouldn’t kiss Lance without asking first, he wouldn’t do anything Lance wasn’t one hundred percent on board with. **Ever**. 

“Keith.”, Shiro said standing in the doorway to his room.

“Yeah, don’t worry Shiro you can have final say on the suit after all it’ll also be for your wedding so-”

“No, well- _yes_ , but no. I need to talk to you.” 

Keith spun around in his desk chair, “About?”

“I had a chat with Iverson today, about possible leads on the guys who attacked you.”

“And?”, “Keith asked hopefully.

“Zarkon.”

“You mean that drug dude- the one who the New York Metro Murderer was working for?”, Keith asked wide eyed.

“And the Chicago arsonist, the LA strangler, Las Vegas bomber, Austin sniper, Seattle kidnapper, Phoenix r-”

“I get it, dude’s got connections. Why the hell would he send lackies to beat _me_ up?”

“Apparently Rolo was his top mover among teens in southern Florida. Him being sent to Juvy is costing Zarkon ten thousand dollars a year.”

“Yeah, but 10 thousand gotta be chump change to that guy right? Isn’t he a multi billionaire?”

“14th richest person in the world. And even in that kind of spot light we’ve still got no evidence tying him to any crime. Not even tax evasion, cause the guys okay with murder, but god forbid he skips out on his taxes.”, Shiro sighed angrilly.

“He’s smart, you know that already. And why is he even interested in teens?”

“Not sure on that one- but, it probably has to do with his son. Lotor. If we can get to him, I know that’s what we can tie Zarkon too- but… Look, I really shouldn’t be telling you all of this, but I just want you and your friends to be aware. Those guys are actually dangerous. If anything happened to you I don’t know how I’d be able to live with myself.”

“Shiro- I’ll be careful. Besides, they said they were just going to rough me up, as a message to other people. Doesn’t seem like they’ll be coming back.”

“Well, once Zarkon gets wind that us police are trying to connect this to him, that situation may change. Be safe. Keep out of trouble, and keep a low profile. And, make sure Lance knows this too, he’s just as at risk as you are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment! Means a lot I read them all!


	14. The Rule

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! Drop me a comment if you enjoyed! It means a lot I read them all!

“Lance!”, Keith shouted running across the field Thursday before school, “Lance I need to talk to you!”, Shiro reminded Keith that he needed to let Lance know about the possible connection to Zarkon. Even if nothing happened they just needed to be cautious. 

“Keith!”, Lance smiled turning away from his conversation with Shay. He turned back to her and they waved goodbye before Lance made his way to meet Keith halfway, “Hey-”, His smile faltered, “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“No-, well… Shiro told me the police think Rolo was working with Zarkon.”, Lance’s eyes widened at the name. Let’s explain some things about Zarkon. First off, he was a household name. Everyone knew about him, but it wasn’t in a Bill Gates or Steve Jobs kind of way where he was a respected and revered billionaire responsible for helping millions by creating world changing products. No, Zarkon was a household name for his neverending series of morally questionable business ventures. A string of mysterious ‘missing’ personnel. And years of bending over the collective population and completely fucking them. He did what he wanted, when he wanted. And if someone got in his way it didn’t make much of a difference to him. Thing was the guy was ridiculously good at covering his tracks. Nothing he did could ever be traced back to him. And the things that could be traced back, like a purchase of a homeless shelter and then the subsequent demolition of said building, while terrible and awful in nature were under no means illegal. 

“And the guys who beat you up-?”

“They think so yeah… My brother told me to tell you. Y’know, so you can be careful. That we’ve gotta keep a low profile for a little bit.”

“Keith… I-”, Lance’s words trailed off. Keith wasn’t really sure what to say next. He’d killed the mood. The mood that was supposed to be this stupid honeymoon phase. Here they are not even 24 hours after Lance had asked Keith on a date, and here Keith had to go and ruin everything by doing what needed to be done. Screw life. It sucks, “We’ll be okay, you know that right?”, Lance spoke up, “I mean, we’ve gotten through rapists and gang attacks. What one measly billionaire drug dealer?”, He laughed. Keith smiled and nodded, “You promise me you’re okay?”, Lance asked.

“I’m okay.”, Keith grinned. 

“Good. Cause I’m planning something incredible for Saturday and the last thing I need is for you to get sad and cancel on me.”, He poked. 

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”, Keith glanced at his watch, “We should head to class.”

Lance nodded and the two made their way towards the front door to the school. Keith wasn’t too sure how it started but one minute Lance’s hand was brushing past his and the next their fingers were interlaced. It made his stomach flip, and honestly Keith thought he might have been going crazy. Or dying. Or both. He’d been in relationships before. He’d liked people before, so what was so different this time? There had to be _something_. It's not that Keith was afraid of attachment, but actually that's exactly what it was.

Keith was scarred. He’d had one constant in his life, Shiro. Sometimes even Shiro was too much. In his line of work, casualties were a given. Everytime Keith saw the headline ‘Active gunman’ or ‘Domestic dispute’ his stomach would drop along with the rest of his body as he prayed to a god he wasn’t sure existed to send his brother home safe and sound. Keith had come to terms with his fear, he’d understood it- and he didn’t need validation from anyone. It was completely okay to be afraid. He wanted a relationship. And he wanted one with Lance, he was excited about it, but that didn’t mean that a part of him wasn’t telling him to run before he got hurt. But how could he run when Lance’s hand was so warm, when his smile was so inviting? It was like running from the sun, sure you could sit in the shade but where’s the fun in living in the shadows. For once Keith wanted to bask in the light. He wasn’t about to let his past ruin this for him. Not this time. 

 

 

“What are you doing after school?”, Lance asked Keith as they walked out of their biology classroom. Pidge and Hunk had basically run out of the room after realising it was the perfect weather to finally test if Hunk run faster than Pidge could skateboard. They were going to race from the school to Altea since they both had work, and as much as Keith and Lance loved Hunk, when Pidge was on Rover- no one could beat her. 

“Planning on just going home and watching a movie.”, Keith shrugged. He’d gotten very little homework that day, so a break was going to be much appreciated. 

“Oh… Cool. Cool.”, Lance spoke, “I’ve got no plans.”, Lance said not so subtly implying he wanted to hang out with Keith. This caused Keith to let out a small chuckle.

“Want to come over?”, Keith smiled shaking his head as he laughed. 

“I’d love to.”, Lance smiled, “This doesn’t count as out first date though.”, He clarified, “Our first date is Saturday.”, Lance lowered his voice into what he’d dubbed his ‘cool jock’ voice, “Just a couple of dudes being bros.”

“You’re an idiot.”, Keith breathed with a smile on his face.

“Keith- that cuts me deep”

 

 

“God Tom Holland is so hot.”, Lance sighed as the movie finished. They watched Spider Man Homecoming. 

“I am sitting right here.”, Keith stated nudging Lance. They’d curled up on Keith’s bed. Keith’s arm around Lance’s shoulder and Lance’s head resting on Keith’s chest. Cuddling. Pure bliss. Until Lance insulted Keith by commenting on Tom Holland’s obvious attractiveness right in front of Keith. Someone who- sure they may not be exactly officially boyfriends yet, but c’mon. It’s gonna happen, who are they fooling? 

“Aww, did I upset wittle owd muwwet?”, Lance laughed in a baby voice. Keith pouted down at Lance, “It’s okay, you’re hot too. Even if Tom does have better hair. _And_ a british accent.”

“I will push you off the bed.”, Keith commented. 

“You wouldn’t.”, Lance said calling his bluff.

“Wouldn’t I?”, Keith smirked pushing Lance towards the side. Lance was quick though. He grabbed at the headboard and pulled so that he and Keith ended up switching sides on the bed. Keith laughed and lunged at Lance who deftly dodged and swung over to straddle Keith pinning his arms above his head. Keith, who could’ve easily pried his hands free of Lance’s weak grasp, sat still staring at Lance’s gorgeous oceanic eyes. 

“Don’t start wars you can’t finish pretty boy.”, Lance giggled. He looked down to see his handy work and all he saw was Keith. Keith looking up at him like he was the whole goddamn world. Keith looking up at him like if he looked away he might die. Keith looking up at him like Lance was the only thing that mattered. And just as it had been the night they’d confessed, all words were lost. Both boys trapped by nothing but pure instinct. Instincts that told Keith to lick his bottom lip. That told Lance to lean in. That told them both to kiss the other. 

Keith had never kissed anyone the way he kissed Lance. All he wanted was to feel Lance’s lips against his for the rest of his life. To brush his tongue against Lance’s every second. To steal the breath right from his lungs. To only break for air if he was going to pass out. Keith rolled them over, eager for more control. Lance let out a small squeak and giggled slightly as he ran his hands through Keith’s hair, pulling him in closer.

“Keith I’m home, I brought- WOAH!”, Shiro exclaimed as he opened Keith’s door to see- well his little brother making out with Lance. The two teens pushed away from each other. Both of their faces bright red, “Hi Lance.”, Shiro said trying to hold his laughter. 

“Hello Mr. Shirogane.”, Lance said looking down at the bed. 

“Call me Shiro, but hey Keith, do we have to reinstate ‘the rule’?”, Shiro asked with a knowing look.

“No.”, Keith grumbled.

“Alright, I’m going to get dinner started. Lance you’re welcome to stay- but uh, y’know… I’m home now, so perhaps you two could do something a bit more G rated.”, Shiro laughed as he walked out towards the kitchen. 

Just Keith’s luck, his first kiss with Lance interrupted by his brother. Not only that but it was a heated kiss on top of a bed. And Shiro alluded to ‘the rule’. ‘The Rule’ was humiliating. 

“I’m so sorry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment! I love reading them, it makes my day!


	15. Four words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oof, this one's a doosy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COMMENT! I LOVE TO READ THEM

“Oh my god.”, Lance said as he nose dived into one of Keith’s pillows, “That was humiliating.”, Keith heard him say even though it was muffled.

“It’s just Shiro, he’s a big boy he’ll be fine.”, Keith brushed off, wasn’t the first time Shiro had walked in on Keith and a boy getting intimate. To be honest this was one of the more PG encounters he’d had. There was one time where Keith was _fully_ naked. 

“But I won’t be.”, Lance clarified, “That was so embarrassing! The first time I meet your brother while he’s _not_ working and he catches us like- well y’know…”

“Think about it this way, at least our first kiss is memorable.”, Keith chuckled. Lance shot up off the bed and stared into Keith’s eyes.

“That was our first kiss.”, He stated.

“Yep.”, Keith smiled popping the P.

“I-... I um- you don’t… you don’t want to go, like- you don’t… tell me you don’t want.”, Lance was struggling to get his words out, his face seems to have fallen and it made Keith’s heart twinge, “Further.”, Lance swallowed nervously. And Keith put the pieces together, Rolo. 

“I won’t do anything you don’t want me to. Ever. I promise you’ll never have to deal with another guy like him again. Not as long as I’m around.”, Lance seemed to breathe easier after his reassurance, “Besides, _technically_ we haven’t even had our first date yet, gotta at least buy me dinner before you can get me in bed.”, Lance snorted after hearing this.

“Oh please from what Pidge tells me you’re easier than 2+2.”, He joked quietly.

“She makes it sound like I sleep around. I don’t.”, Keith clarified.

“I know… And I’m not ready for- other stuff, but I like kissing you.”

“Can I kiss you again?”, Keith asked bringing his hand up to cup Lance’s jaw. Lance leaned into the touch just as he had done the night on the beach and nodded at Keith. Keith guided Lance’s head towards his and reengaged in lip lock with him. This kiss much slower and careful than the last one. Shorter too when Shiro walked past the door screaming something about ‘The Rule’ on his way past. 

 

 

“We’ve got a problem.”, Iverson said pushing past Shiro in the breakroom while slipping something into his pocket. He immediately left before giving any explanation causing Shiro’s gaze to follow him with confused eyes. He reached into his pocket and pull out the note.

 

_**\----- .---- ----- .---- ----- .---- .---- .---- ----- .---- .---- ----- ----- .---- ----- .---- ----- ----- .---- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- .---- .---- ----- .---- ----- ----- ----- ----- .---- .---- ----- ----- ----- ----- .---- ----- .---- .---- .---- ----- .---- .---- ----- ----- .---- .---- ----- ----- .---- ----- .---- ----- ----- .---- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- .---- .---- ----- ----- ----- ----- .---- ----- ----- .---- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- .---- .---- .---- ----- ----- .---- ----- ----- .---- .---- ----- ----- ----- ----- .---- ----- .---- .---- .---- ----- .---- ----- -----** _

 

“Morse code?”, Shiro questioned softly. He recognized it from his training as a collection of zeros and ones meaning it was binary, but he’d never learned binary so he’d have to look up it’s translation. 01010111011001010010000001101000011000010111011001100101001000000110000100100000011100100110000101110100, Binary was literally just a collection of ones and zero’s that to Shiro meant absolutly nothing. How was it supposed to? He looked around him, would it be safe to look up the meaning at the station? Iverson clearly was trying to keep whatever information it was on the downlow. What would he need to be so secretive about? He needed to figure out what this meant now, but concluded it just wasn’t safe to look up the meaning while on his work computer. He’d have to wait, and the anticipation was killing him. Shiro was known to be a patient man but really this was too much even for him. 

What could it mean? Shiro’s mind went through every case he was assigned to and concluded that it obviously had something to do with Zarkon, but what could the problem be, and why couldn’t they talk freely at work? So many questions were rattling his brain and his mind wandered to Keith and Allura. Keith had already suffered because of Zarkon and if Zarkon found out that the police were onto him what’s to say Keith wouldn’t get hurt again. What’s to say they wouldn’t go after Allura? Should Shiro take the risk and stay on the case. What would happen to Keith if Shiro died? And he didn’t mean legally. He’d already had that arranged. After all with his line of work death was par for the course- but he meant emotionally. Would Keith be able to handle losing Shiro after all he’d already been through. 

He remembered the day he told Keith he’d gotten a job at the police station. Keith begged him to quit. Little 11 year old Keith got on his hands and knees and _begged_ Shiro to quit. Told him he’d never do anything bad again if Shiro found a job somewhere else- somewhere safe. It broke Shiro’s heart to see him like that. But he couldn’t quit. He just couldn’t. And he wasn’t 100% sure why. He had no idea why he couldn’t just turn and walk away. Keith was a mess in the weeks that followed- how would Keith feel if his fears were confirmed and Shiro lost his life in the line of duty.

After what seemed like forever and a half Shiro’s shift was over. He’d never gotten home so fast- ignoring Keith and Allura who were watching America’s Next Top Model reruns and making a beeline for the computer. He typed it in and with every number he was more anxious. 

Would he really be able to walk away from it all for Keith and Allura? Or would the invisible force keep him locked in place once more? Would leaving even help? Or would Zarkon still come after Keith for being complicit in the investigation? Would they have to move? Go into witness protection? Would Allura love him enough to do that? Would Keith resent him for another uprooting when he’d just found his place? Every key he typed made the weight of it all crush his shoulders more, dreading what he’d find. Dreading what he’d have to do. Dreading why _he_ was being trusted with the information. Why was he so special? What could he do to help? What even was it? He couldn’t take it anymore. He was spiraling and couldn’t breath. He was falling and couldn’t stand. He was drowning and dying and no one could help him. He was alone. Four words. Four words killed him.

 

 

_**We have a rat** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COMMENT! I LOVE TO READ THEM!


	16. What You're Worth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment! I love to read them all!

“Oh my god he’s here. Shiro- I can’t. I can’t do this.”, Keith panicked. Saturday night had come far sooner than he’d expected and Keith found himself woefully unprepared. He felt far overdressed and proceeded to ditch the tie and throw his blazer across the room. And when did his face get so red? He was basically the same color as his shirt and he couldn’t tell if it was acne appearing or he was hot or if he was just that nervous. 

“Yes you can.”, Shiro sighed, “And stop rubbing at your face-”, He said smacking Keith’s hand down, “You’re making the redness worse.”

“Why is this so difficult!”, Keith groaned, “I’m sauve- I’m sexy- I’m Keith fucking Kogane. I don’t get nervous I make other boys nervous.”, He told himself staring at the hallway mirror, “So why do I feel like I’m going to pass out.”

Shiro smiled as Allura walked in, “That just means you’ve found someone special.”, Allura assured. She brought her hands to Keith’s head, fixing his mussed up hair and smoothing out his collar, “Someone you care deeply about.”

Keith took a deep breath and nodded at Allura before promptly turning around and opening the door, “I got this.”, He said and took a step into the world.

 

 

Keith and first dates were a bit of an enigma. He’d been on seven of them, four of them turning into relationships that lasted longer than a month, and two of them turning into relationships that lasted longer than 6 months. Out of seven first dates, six of them ended in a bed. Keith was very confident in his sexual prowess. And let’s be real- Keith had been in Florida for 2 and a half months and he’d been celibate for all of it. He was pent up. But Keith would wait a million years until Lance was ready. He’d be content with his right hand for the rest of his life if it meant he was the one who got to make Lance smile. 

Lance’s smile. It was ethereal. It made Keith think as if he’d seen a God he didn’t believe in. It was contagious beyond belief. It made Keith’s palms sweaty and heart pound. Keith loved that he was the one who got to kiss that smile, Keith loved that he was the one who got to hold Lance’s perfectly tan hands. Hands that were so warm and inviting. Keith loved when they walked pinky in pinky. He loved Lance’s eyes. Blue that was indescribable. The ocean waves mixed with the night sky all confined within perfect blue pearls. They shined just right and bore right into his soul. Not even caring when they made him feel so small beneath their gaze. Not even caring when his eyes made him feel so vulnerable. 

Keith always hated feeling vulnerable. It made him think of his childhood. It made him think of his parents, and that phone call. His brother and that job. His tears, his sweat, his blood. It made him think of crying on his parents grave. It made him think of begging his brother to quit. It made him think of gasping for air on the school’s cold floor. Being vulnerable made Keith hate himself. Made him hate life. Made him hate the world. But when he was with Lance it made him feel warm and fuzzy. Like nothing could touch him. Lance who had so much of his own baggage, who could have easily walked away when Zarkon came into the picture, who could have anyone he wanted and somehow still chose Keith. How did he get so lucky?

 

 

“Hi.”, Lance smiled when Keith opened the door to the car. Keith was about to sit down when he saw a bouquet of Lavender, Pink, and Red roses, “I uh- I got these for you.”, Lance smiled nervously picking them up off the seat and extending them out to Keith. Keith took them, his mouth agape, “Is it too much?”, Lance asked sucking in a breath. 

“N-no… They’re beautiful.”, He said. He climbed into the car burying his nose in the flowers taking a deep inhale, “They smell really good.”, Keith commented, “Thank you.”  
Lance giggled and took a look up and down Keith, “You look really good.”

“Thanks- you do to.”, They sat in an almost awkward nervous silence for the next few seconds, each extremely red faced. First dates were something with Lance. He was nervous because he liked Keith, but also nervous because- because… things were good with Rolo in the beginning. Really good, and he didn’t want a repeat of that to happen, “So where are we going?”, Keith asked.  
“We- well, there’s- there’s this really good restaurant, House of Juju- it’s right along the water. It’s- I know you said you don’t like the beach very much- but… it’s really- the view is incredible, there’s this one table on the balcony and sometimes you can see dolphins and whales- and otters.”

“Sounds amazing.”, Keith said. _’Say something smooth, say something smooth_ ’, Keith told himself, “Like you.”, Keith smiled.

Lance’s smile grew ear to ear as a dark flush engulfed his face, “Wow- I uh, wow…”, He stuttered. Keith’s heart swelled with pride as he thought, ‘ _I did that. I made him smile like that._ ’. His eyes grew soft and he had a very dopey smile, ‘ _He’s perfect_ ’.

Lance attempted to regain his composure as he put the car in drive making his way down to the bulevard. Keith really felt awkward with Lance for the first time in a while. Everything with them had been so easy when they were friends, and even in the few short days when they’d been romantic with each other things seemed to just work, but the implications of a first date were really putting a wrench in things. Things seemed to be a bit stiffer on the car ride over. There was very little talking despite the ride being twenty minutes, and it wasn’t the comfortable silence that they were used to. It was heavy and filled with uncertainty. They both wanted this to work out so badly, and this would be the first test. 

Lance put the car in park and as Keith began to unbuckle and get out when Lance grabbed Keith’s hand, “Wait-”. Flushing as Keith looked at him with wide eyes and pulling his hand away, “I- I uh, can we- can we skip the whole first date thing? Like… I really like you. The awkwardness, can we skip it? Just pretend like nothing's changed except now we kiss… and I tell you how much I like you.”. Keith smiled and nodded down at him. 

 

“Reservation for McClain.”, Lance told the hostess who nodded, grabbed menus, and led them to Lance’s requested table. Lance smiled when he saw the water behind him, “It’s beautiful isn’t it?”, Lance asked.

“Yeah.”, Keith agreed, though in all honesty he wasn’t looking at the water at all. It was nothing compared to the boy in front of him. Nothing compared to Lance. Dinner was wonderful, more than Keith could have hoped for. At one point during dinner Keith had gotten some ketchup on his nose, neither of them really sure how, causing Lance to burst into a fit of laughter, clutching his sides as Keith searched for his napkin to wipe his face. When he fumbled and dropped it on the floor Lance moved to Keith’s face and wiped at his nose. Giving it a final, ‘boop’ before pulling back with a small smile, “Thanks.”, Keith smiled. 

They laughed and talked for three hours, only leaving the restaurant when their waitress had revealed they’d been closed for forty five minutes and couldn’t leave until Lance and Keith did. Obviously embarrassed they apologized profusely and tipped generously before taking a stroll on the boardwalk. Their hands were interlaced and despite the world bustling around them, neither boy noticed. It seemed as if they were the only people on the strip that night. The only thing Keith could seem to focus on was how warm Lance’s hand was compared to the chill in the air that night. 

“There’s a pier over here, fish like to come by a lot. Once I even saw a shark, it was so cool!”, Lance explained leading Keith to towards the dock.

“You really know all the spots to see the wildlife huh?”, Keith asked as he followed. 

“Yeah- When I was a kid my dad used to take me on calls with him, and most of the time the injured animals swam to populated spots like this to hide their blood amongst all the fish. It gave them cover from the sharks.”

“Do you want to be a marine biologist?”, Keith asked.

“Yeah.”, He replied, “Well- so my first choice is competitive surfer- but that’s not really a stable career, so I think it would be so cool to do what my dad does.”

“So you’d want to work at the healing center?”

“Yeah.”

“Why don’t you now? Why work at Altea?”

“I help out, but I’m not really professionally trained. Sometimes there’s surgeries or special things you have to do, and I’m not really well versed in all those. Plus, I like Altea. I get to see you at Altea.”

Keith smiled and giggled, “That was really cheesy.”, Lance smiled and bit his lip, turning away. Keith could tell the wheels were turning in his head, and he knew why, “I won’t turn into _that_. Things are good, and they’re going to stay good. And- whatever you want I’ll respect it. I would never force you into a relationship you didn’t want. I just want you to be happy Lance.”

Lance smiled softly, “Now _that_ was cheesy… I know. I’m just- scared. My brain knows that you aren’t him but things were this good in the beginning with him too. It’s just gonna take some time.”

“I’ll wait as long as you need.”

“Thank you.”, Keith took Lance’s hand, bringing them to his lips and pressing a soft kiss to them. 

“You’re worth a million years and more.”

“I like you a lot Keith.”, Lance said, “I really like you.”

“I should hope so.”, Keith giggled, “I really like you too.”, Lance smiled for what seemed like the millionth time that night and planted his lips on Keith’s. Keith’s nerves slowed as his heart sped up before he pulled apart and whispered, “You’re worth everything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment! I love to read them all!


	17. Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oof, this one is setting up some real angst!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment!

“A rat?”, Shiro asked

“Keep your voice down.”, Iverson scolded, “But yes. I’ll be by your house tonight, it’s not safe to talk here.”

“But-”, _I don’t want to put Keith through this._ , Shiro wanted to say but instead kept quiet. His heart had been eating at him all night, sending Keith on his date the night before only made him more anxious. He liked Lance, he did. And he was happy that his brother was happy, but being with Lance was dangerous. Shiro knew that this investigation would only add to the danger for both boys. Shiro could not lose Keith. He’d raised his brother, he worked to provide for him, to give him everything he could ever want and more. He’d done two things for himself since the death of their parents. The first thing was taking a job at the police station. The second thing was moving to Florida. And now both of them were putting Keith in harm's way. Shiro would never forgive himself. 

 

 _Run_. Keith stopped abruptly as he rounded the empty corner of Altea. He glanced at his watch as he bristled for unknown reasons. 12:42 AM. He’d fallen asleep on the slow night at work and found himself extremely late. He sent an apology text to Shiro promising to be home soon. _Run_. Keith’s heart pounded in his chest but looking around on the cold night he saw nothing. He was afraid. Picking up his pace Keith through his hoodie up grabbing his phone and pulling up Shiro’s contact info. It was a trick he’d learned back in his days living in Chicago. Obviously it wasn’t always the safest city, so Keith learned that if he hovered over the call button just in case he felt safer. And Keith was glad he did, because as he pulled it up two figures stood behind him.

“Funny seeing you around here Kogane.”, One of them spoke, Keith turned to meet their eyes. One of them was masked but the other- was Nyma. He recognised the voice of the other as the same guy from the night he was assaulted. Why was Nyma hanging with him? Did she know who he was? Upon further thought, he’d realised that Nyma was likely one of the persons from the group that had assaulted him as well. Keith knew little about Nyma, other than she was one of the numerous girls that Lance had fawned over before he and Keith began a relationship. She was one of the more quiet kids at school, had friends but didn’t really make herself known too often, “We were gonna try and corner you next week, but seeing you here- well why don’t we just have a chat now.”

“Last time we had a ‘chat’ it ended up being a little more than that.”, Keith grit as he dialed Shiro’s number in his pocket. 

“Well, chat- beating. Toe-may-toe, toe-mah-toe.”, The masked guy shrugged, “Nyma.”, He spoke harshly. Nyma narrowed her eyes in Keith’s direction, groaning as she pulled a gun from the back of her jeans and handed it to the guy. 

“What you actually gonna kill me this time?”, Keith asked.

“No.”, The guy clarified, “I’m not a murderer, it’s just- let’s call this baby a gift. From Rolo.”, He extended the gun to Keith.

“The fuck would give me a gun for?”, Keith asked taking a step away. 

“You know what’s coming Keith.”, Nyma said, “You know who's at the top of this food chain. Someone neither of us are too happy with.”

“You’re gonna need protection if that goody-two shoes brother is going to keep puttin’ his nose where it doesn’t belong. So you’re gonna take the gun, and you’re going to keep your guard up.”

“Why are you helping me?”

“Cause when the shark starts smelling blood- and trust me. He’ll smell it. Things ain’t gonna get pretty.”

“That doesn’t answer my question! Don’t you work for him! Wouldn’t you benefit from-”

“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth Kogane.”, The man sneered angrily, “Now take the gun and keep it close.”

“You said it was a gift from Rolo, what does that mean?”, Keith asked.

“It means that there is so much more to this than any of the cops’ll understand. It means this is bigger than anyone could know. Take the gun, before I change my mind.”, The guy warned. Keith warily took the gun and watched as Nyma and the guy disappeared into the night. He stared down at the gun in his hand before shoving it in the back of his backpack. He turned to continue walking home when he heard wheels screech next to him. Shiro’s car.

“Keith! My god! I thought-”

“Huh?”, Keith asked, suddenly he remember he’d called Shiro. He couldn’t let Shiro know about the gun, he’d take it away. And Keith- despite knowing he shouldn’t have the gun, if it was so easy for those guys to keep cornering him alone he knew he’d need it. To protect himself and Lance, “Sorry, must have dialed accidentally.”

“I heard yelling?”

“Some hobos fighting over a piece of bread I think.”, Keith lied. Shiro took a deep breath.

“Let's get you home. No more being late too. You’re late again and you’re grounded.”, Keith rolled his eyes at his protectiveness but his mind was truely on the gun he now had. Why the fuck would those guys give him a gun? What were they playing at? _A gift from Rolo? Should I tell Lance about this?_. Keith shook his head at the question. Lance couldn’t know about this. 

 

 

“Keith?”, Lance asked from his spot on Keith’s couch. They’d decided when they were hanging out that it was best to do it at Keith’s house as there was a better chance of no one being there, “Is something wrong?”, He asked.

“What?”, Keith asked snapping from his daze. All he could think about was that damned gun. Sitting snugly under a false bottom in his bottom right hand drawer of his desk, “No, I’m fine.”, Lance looked at him through a small pout.

“You know you can tell me anything right?”, Lance asked, “I’ll listen.”

“I know. Thank you, I just… I’m stressed.”, Keith relented.

“Is it because of the whole Zarkon thing?”, Keith squinted at him, he hasn’t been giving Lance a ton of information on Zarkon, at least not nearly as much as Shiro was telling Keith, “Iverson has been in contact with my family too. My mom thinks we should all go into witness protection.”, He laughed, “She’s too protective.”

Keith sighed, he didn’t have to tell Lance _exactly_ what about Zarkon -the gun situation- was stressing him, “Yeah it’s Zarkon…”, Lance moved to wrap his hand around Keith’s, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“I’m sorry…”, He said. The two sat in a comfortable silence for a moment before Lance repositioned himself so that he was leaning on Keith, nuzzling into his chest, “Keith?”, Lance asked.

“Yeah?”, Keith answered. Lance moved to bury his face further into Keith’s shirt. 

“W-ul oo e mei oyfend.”, Well those certainly weren’t words, but that’s what Keith had heard. He let out a small chuckle trying to get a look at Lance who kept his face hidden. But the tips of his ears were an unmistakable red.

“Sorry what was that?”, He asked with a playful lightheartedness in his voice.

“Will yo- be my…”, He trailed off once more.

“You’re going to have to speak clear and slow Lance.”

Lance sighed and sat up, his face so red that taken out of context Keith might have thought that he was suffering from a rather dangerous fever, “Will- you- be- my- boyfriend.”

That caught Keith off guard that's for sure, “Yes- of course- a million times yes.”, Keith surged forward and planted a kiss of Lance’s lips, “Can’t believe I let you beat me to the punch.”, He laughed. 

“I asked for the first date, I asked for you to be my boyfriend- I’m starting to think I’m putting the most effort into this relationship. C’mon Keithy-boy, when am I gonna start gettin’ pampered?”, Lance fained.

“Tell you what, I’ll take you out this weekend. I’ll treat you to anything you want.”, He smiled. 

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think! i'd love to hear some of your theories about what's going on! And what's going to happen next!


	18. Touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SMUT WARNING

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment

The next few weeks were interesting, if not to say uneventful. The day was now December 14th, the start of winter break and it was a bit unsettling to Keith, Lance, and Shiro alike that Zarkon hadn’t yet made a move. Of course that meant 6 weeks of happiness. 6 weeks of wedding planning, or science labs, stolen kisses, incredible dates, late nights, and bliss. Everyone was happy. Of course things don’t always last. And Fort Lauderdale was long overdue for something terrible.

“Keefy”, Lance whined, “It’s too hot”, He whined draping himself across Keith. 

“Then go get some water. I’m trying to watch the movie.”, He said. 

“You’re no fun.”, Lance stormed off to the kitchen to get a glass, “Want any?”, He called to the other room.

“Sure, thanks.”, Lance reentered the room with two glasses of water and handed one to Keith before sitting down next to him, snuggling into his side.

“And what do I get for being an amazing boyfriend?”, Lance asked before looking up at Keith.

“I said thanks, what more do you want?”, He chuckled.

“Hmmm, some groveling, a foot massage, some flowers, and a kiss.”, He listed sarcastically.

“I can make good on one of those.”, Keith smiled leaning down. Lance met him half way and surged to meet Keith with a kiss. Keith noticed Lance was wearing new lip balm. Normally he tasted like vanilla and cheesecake. But today he tasted like blueberries. It was intoxicating, Keith couldn’t seem to get enough of it. He was almost devouring Lance’s face pressing closer as if merely kissing him wasn’t enough. Lance seemed to have felt the same as he swung his legs over so that he was stradling Keith’s hips, his hands finding their way to Keith’s face bringing it impossibly closer to his own. 

“Mmhm.”, Keith groaned, “W-wamph.”, He tried to speak before pulling away, “Not in the living room.”, Lance nodded before pressing one more kiss to Keith’s reddened lips. He climbed off and followed Keith to his bedroom. Upon arrival Keith turned, “Are you okay? With this?”, Keith asked. Lance pushed him into the bed and straddled his hips, “Are you okay if I touch you?”

Lance seemed to recoil slightly as the fog clouding his mind lifted slightly, “Not- not- I don’t wanna go all the way. But I want to touch you too.”, He leaned closer breathing the words into his ears. The two reengaged in a kiss. As hands began to wander in places they were previously barred from touching. Keith relished in the feeling of Lance’s long slender fingers gliding underneath his shirt while Lance let out low moans as Keith’s lips found their way to his neck. Keith’s heart warmed as he realised Lance was finally opening up to him sexually. Sure they’d had more than one heated makeout session, but that was as far as it went. Now Lance was saying he was comfortable with- not full blown sex, but he wanted to touch Keith sexually. That was progress and it showed the level of trust Lance had in Keith. Trust Keith was breaking every second the gun sat in his room. 

He’d been contemplating showing Lance the gun for some time now, even going so far as to take it out and hold it in his hand just to remind himself that this was something real he had to deal with. The gun scared the shit out of Keith, Rolo had done something to it, he’d made marks on it. Keith was so anxious when he couldn’t see the gun however- not seeing it in the morning made him wonder if it was gone. So he’d moved it to his underwear drawer. Underneath every pair of boxers and socks he had. Just so he could see it once a day and reassure himself that it was in a safe place. It made it seem farther away. Lance was trusting Keith by allowing him to go further than they’d gone before. If Lance could trust him in this vulnerable moment then it mean Keith needed to tell Lance he had the gun. But he could do that after. For now all he wanted to focus on was Lance’s hands pulling at his shirt, “Off.”, He whined. Keith was more than happy to comply, unlatching his mouth from Lance’s neck and all but ripping his shirt off and throwing it across the room before Lance attacked his stomach with his mouth. 

He pressed kisses up and down his torso, licking, and nipping as he moved. Almost like he was trying to memorized his chest with his mouth. He pulled back looking down at Keith who must have looked like a flustered God from the way Lance’s eyes were trained on him, “Can I touch you too?”, Keith asked, his fingers tugging on the collar of Lance’s shirt. Lance nodded and slowly peeled his shirt off. Keith and Lance had seen each other shirtless plenty of times before, touched each other’s chests before. But this was different. Keith leaned forward and slowed things down, where as Lance had been hot and hungry, Keith took it slow and pressed loving kisses in specific places, giving each new patch of skin it’s own personal attention before he arrived at Lance’s right nipple. He gave a tentative lick and felt Lance shudder in his arms. Encouraged by the reaction Keith bombarded the bud with attention. Sucking and biting while twisting and flicking the other one between his fingers

“H-hmm.”, Lance moaned, “h-ah.”, It was as if Lance had never been touched like this before- and that was when it hit Keith. He probably hadn’t. When he was with Rolo it was likely just Lance giving while Rolo greedily took. Lance had probably never never been on receiving end of something like this. Never been pampered like he deserved. That motivated Keith to do more. He wanted this boy to be writhing in his arms, over stimulated and a mess beneath him. 

Lance experimentally rolled ground his hips down and really felt how hard Keith was in his pants, “Hm.”, Keith growled at the contact before leaning up and recapturing Lance’s mouth in a kiss. 

“Can I- Um…”, Lance put his hands on the hem of Keith’s jeans in lieu of actual words.

“Whatever you want.”, Keith nodded. Lance swallowed, unbuckling Keith’s belt, “Can I?”, Keith asked motioning to Lance’s pants. He nodded and moved to his own pants, pulling them down before returning to Keith’s leaving them both in their boxers. Keith noticed Lance was just as painfully hard as he was, it made him twitch beneath his boxers. Lance removed himself from Keith’s lap now kneeling in front of him on the floor. Keith knew where this was going and oh god he couldn’t wait. Lance hesitantly reached out rubbing him through his boxers, “Hmm.”, Keith groaned encouragingly. 

Lance pressed kisses to the tip through the fabric and could feel that Keith was already leaking, his hands snaked their way up, leaving a burning sensation everywhere they dragged. Poking into the top of the waistband before pulling them down to reveal Keith in his full naked glory, “B-big…”, Lance said quietly. He wrapped his hand around Keith’s length giving two pumps before leaning over him and opening his mouth wide. Moving himself to take the whole thing, gagging horribly three quarters of the way down but still trying to go further. 

Keith took note and pulled Lance off quickly, “Hey- what are you- why are you forcing yourself to- Lance you’re choking yourself.”, He said concerned.

“Don’t you- If I didn’t… He always said that was the way to do it, so I figured I had-”

“You don’t _have_ to do anything, you could just lick it if that’s what you’re comfortable with.”, Keith reassured. Lance looked into his eyes and nodded. Before going back down. Pressing kisses to the tip, swirling his tongue. Above him Keith shuddered, throwing his head back in pleasure. Lance continued, taking his hand and rubbing what his mouth couldn’t reach. He hollowed his cheeks, Keith was pretty sure Lance was trying to suck the very life out of him, and holy shit was it working. It wasn’t long before Keith was putty in his hands, “Close- so… oh god-”, He moaned. Lance pulled off continuing the work with his hands.

Lance opened his mouth wide underneath Keith’s member waiting for Keith to make his release, “Oh holy shit- I’m- _Lance_.”, Keith could see Lance’s mouth filling with his cum, “Fuck that’s so hot.”, He breathed, coming down from his high. He tugged Lance up pressing a kiss to his mouth, he tasted salty- Keith felt a bit of pride. Lance tasted like him, “Can I get you?”, He asked motioning for them to switch positions.

“I- I’ve never… I’ve never been on the receiving end.”, Lance admitted. 

“Well I think it’s time you got some pampering then. I’ll make you feel good- I promise.”, Lance thought for a moment before he sat where Keith had been.

“I’m holding you to that Kogane.”, He said trying his best to show a small smile despite all his nerves. Lance removed his own boxers and suddenly felt like he was suffocating. Keith’s eyes were on him, he’d yet to touch Lance but his eyes were already devouring him, “You don’t have to y’know-”, He backtracked. 

“I want to”, Keith cut him off, “Unless you don’t want me to.”

Lance shook his head, “I want you to.”, Keith nodded before kneeling in front of Lance. He leaned forward placing kisses to Lance’s navel, slowly making his way to Lances very erect dick, “Hng.”, Lance shuddered upon contact of Keith’s lips. Keith took him loosely in his hand trailing a lick from the base to the tip, “Uhn”, Lance moaned above him. Keith pressed his mouth onto him, sinking down until Lance was fully in his mouth. Keith always prided himself on having zero gag reflex. Lance bucked his hips widening his eyes at his own actions, “I’m so sorry-”, He said. 

Keith pulled up with a pop, “It’s okay- You’re okay. It’s your first time, it’s okay.”, He let Lance take a moment to breath before he went back to pleasing him. Giving Lance the single greatest blow job Keith had ever given in his life, “Oh my god-”, Lance practically yelled, “Shit- Keith-”, His legs twitching uncontrollably next to Keith, “I’m gonna cum- holy shit I’m gonna cum.”  
“In my mouth Lance- I want to taste you.”, His words were what sent Lance over the edge, spilling into Keith’s mouth who swallowed every drop he could, a few stray one’s landing on Lance’s boxers beneath him. Lance heaved onto his back out of breath.

“That- oh my god.”, he sighed. 

“You deserve to be pampered.”, Keith said lovingly, “Do you want me to throw these in the wash?”, Keith asked holding up Lance’s boxers.

“Uh- y-yeah…”, He said sheepishly, “But- I kinda need underwear…”

“You can borrow a pair.”, Keith said, “I’ll grab some for you after I throw these in the washer.”, He couldn’t let Lance get them himself- after they both got dressed Keith would tell Lance. Lance needed to know- this lying couldn’t go on anymore. 

 

 

Keith walked back into the room and saw Lance already wearing his shirt and a pair of Keith’s boxers. He had his back to the door, facing down, “Lance?”

Lance looked up at Keith, tears and anger evident in his eyes as he held up Rolo’s gun, “Why the fuck do you have this?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment


	19. Shot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oof

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment

The room was silent.

 

“I’ll ask one more time- why the _fuck_ do you have this?”, He spat. Water now freely flowing from his eyes.

“Lance I-”, Keith moved to put a hand on Lance’s shoulder.

“Don’t touch me.”, Lance said getting up and moving away. His back now towards the desk. He opened his mouth to say something but the words wouldn’t find their way out, he was choking thanks to the gun in his hand. The only thing he could manage was a gargled sob.

“Lance- I was going to tell you I swear, I was going to tell you.”, He pleaded.

“When?”, Lance yelled, “When you got tired of waiting for me to be ready? _Is that when you were going to **tell me**_ ”, That insinuation made Keith’s stomach churn. That Lance actually thought he was capable of something like that, that he would do something like that to Lance. 

“Let me explain-”, Keith made another attempt to get close to Lance.

“I said don’t touch me!”, There was a moment of silence between the two of them, “Ever.”, Lance finished, “Don’t touch me _ever_ again.”

“Lance- just let me explain.”, Keith attempted.

“You have two minutes”, Lance began, “Then I am taking this gun to the police and we’re through.”

Keith’s whole body felt numb. He couldn’t let Lance end things. He adored Lance, he worshiped Lance, he- he- Keith _couldn’t_ lose Lance. He had to fix this. No matter what it took he couldn’t let his mistake ruin this perfect relationship. He needed to explain, “Nyma and one of the guys who jumped me gave it to me. They cornered me one night, and they gave it to me. I asked them why and they didn’t explain they just gave cryptic answers about how this whole Zarkon thing is bigger than anyone knows. I didn’t want to scare you so I didn’t tell you- but Lance I swear I was going to. I promise, not telling you was eating away at me. Lance you’re my everything- you have to believe me.”

“So you didn’t report it? You didn’t tell Shiro that Nyma was working with someone who nearly killed you. You didn’t think to wonder _why_ they’d give you a gun- and _**Rolo’s**_ gun?! Do you know what these marks are? Right here?”, He snarled, “Every line- represents a time he threatened me with it.”, Lance’s voice quieted a bit, “He said it was a game. That if he got to ten times in a month he’d use it even if I did what he asked.”

“Lance…”, Keith breathed. 

Lance blinked the tears out of his eyes and shook his head. He reached down and pulled his pants on while Keith remained silent, “Don’t talk to me. We’re- this- it’s over.”

“Lance no-! Please I made a mistake but I swear I was never going to hurt you. I was never _ever_ going to use this on you- or at all.”, Keith made another move towards Lance, “Please just give me more time to talk to you- don’t leave.”

“Keith get away from me.”, Lance warned.

“I’m not just gonna let you walk away- I’m not going to give up on us.”, Lance was being cornered in between the wall and Keith’s bedside table. The last time he was like this it was Rolo advancing on him. And just like that he was transported to a particularly horrible event in his past. One no one knew about. Not Keith, not his parents, not even the police. He never wanted to relive this one. And now he was. 

 

_It was a hot summer day, mid June. School had been out for about two weeks. So there was no fear of bruises. No fear of leaving marks, cause after all who would see them? All Lance needed to do was stay hidden for a few days while they healed. That’s what Rolo had told him. And Lance believed him. There were a lot of punches that summer._

_One day Rolo had a knife, ‘Either get on your knees and choke yourself on my cock or get some bandaids cause you’ll bleed.’._

_‘Rolo please stop-’, Lance had begged. Being literally backed into a corner. His shoulders touched either side of the walls, with nowhere to go he was helpless. He’d kicked and clawed- punched and done everything he could to try and keep Rolo at bay but that only angered him more. Rolo drove the knife into Lance’s right thigh. Lance cried for four hours until he’d fallen asleep. When he woke up Rolo had apologized profusely, and told him that he loved him. Rolo had patched up Lance’s leg. Lance hated himself after that._

 

Today Lance was back in that room with Rolo. Keith suddenly had blond hair and a knife in his hand. Lance’s eyes widened, “Rolo please stop!”, He yelled shutting his eyes and pointing the gun in front of him. He heard something but his brain couldn’t understand what it was. 

“Lance calm down- It’s me. Keith, you need to put the gun down.”, but it was gargled and he couldn’t do anything to stop his own mind from spiraling. He opened his eyes to peak and he saw Rolo getting ready to stab him. He pulled the trigger.

“Ahg!”, Keith shouted, he clutched his arms, “Holy fuck!.”, He pulled his hand back to find both it and his arm covered in crimson red. 

“Keith- oh my god.”, Lance shouted. The noise having brought him back to reality, “Keith- no I- didn’t- oh my god.”

“You shot me!”, He shouted attempting to put pressure on the wound. 

“Holy shit- what do I do?”, Lance asked shocked. 

“Call 911!”

 

 

“Keith what the fuck!?”, Shiro asked as he rushed into the hospital. Thankfully the bullet had really only grazed his arm so after six stitches he was fine, “How did this happen?”, He asked reading the police report he’d gotten a copy of, “Where the hell did you get a gun? And why the fuck did your boyfriend shoot you?”

“Ex-boyfriend.”, Keith grimaced. He hadn't seen Lance since the police took him away to take a statement. And he’d made it very clear before the shot that he wanted nothing more to do with Keith.

“You broke up with him because he shot you? Understandable but why did he-”

“He broke up with me.”

“Why?”

“Because I kept the stupid gun a secret- because it’s Rolo’s gun.”, He said feeling the tears starting to well in his eyes, “Because I was stupid and didn’t tell anyone about it.”

“Keith-”, Shiro said, “I’m giving up the Zarkon case.”

“Shiro.”

“No- It’s, putting too much of a strain on things. If I hadn’t taken the case you never would have gotten the gun- I’m giving up the case. I’m not putting you and Allura in anymore danger.”, He said matter of factly. 

“That's not gonna get Lance to forgive me.”, He sulked. 

“You made a mistake-”

“And he shot me! We’re more than even if you ask me.”

“You just need to give him some time. And if he can’t see that my baby bro’s a catch than that’s his problem.”, Shiro comforted.

“Shiro- I want him to be my forever. I really wanted it to work.”

“I know… I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment


	20. Our Future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment!

Lance knocked on the door to Keith’s hospital room. Shiro was currently signing the release papers so they had the room to themselves. He looked at Keith but the second that glance was returned Lance’s attention turned to the ground. He sighed, dragging himself into the room and sitting in the farthest seat from Keith’s bed, “We should talk…”, He said, bitterness evident in his voice. Keith figured it would be best to let Lance start the conversation, “I’m sorry that I shot you.”, Lance said, “You just- Rolo was on my mind, and then I was just transported to…”, He trailed off, “I’m sorry I shot you.”, He repeated, “But I still think we should end things.”

“Lance-”

“Let me finish.”, He said in simple directness, “We just aren’t good for each other, we- everytime-”, Lance was starting to feel his vision blur but willed his voice to remain steady, “You always get hurt because of me. Because of me you got jumped, and because of me you got involved with the whole Zarkon thing- and then they gave you the gun- which”, Lance took a shaky breath, “You messed up with the gun. You should have told someone. Given it to your brother- or _someone_. I and **shot** you. This isn’t normal- and we both know it. Relationships aren’t supposed to be like this, right? I’m not crazy- because- because… when it was good it wasn’t like this! It’s just- I- Keith- people don’t shoot the people they _love_.”, Keith froze. Love. And suddenly Lance broke down in a sob, his face buried in his hands, “Oh god-”, Lance struggled. Like the words about to leave his mouth would physically pain him, “I _love_ you.”, He bawled, “And I know you hate that word- and I know it means nothing to you but I just-”, Lance continued to weep, “It’s just too much- we can’t- I can’t-”. 

Keith looked at him with sadness in his eyes, “Lance…”, He moved off the bed and slowly made his way over to Lance, “I care about you.”, He moved to grab Lance’s hands, “I care about you more than I’ve cared about anyone in a long time. And you said it yourself, when it was good- it was _really_ good. This last month and a half was good, what about all that?”  
“Keith I can’t!”, He sighed through the tears, “And- and what happens in a few months when we leave for school? We’ll go to different schools and long distance never works- I can’t- I _trusted_ you! And you didn’t tell me- And when you- But shit Keith, _**I love you**_.”

Keith’s apprehensions about love at this point were well known to Lance, but that didn’t stop him from saying it. Keith knew Lance wasn’t only looking for love, but that also didn’t mean he fooled himself into believing that Lance would never say it. He just figured he have more time to prepare. He figured things would stay good so Lance would have an opportunity to say it in a way that wasn’t so jarring for Keith. But he needed to stay strong, he didn’t want to hear the word Love. It didn’t mean anything to him, but he knew it meant something to Lance. He knew that he wanted to stay with Lance and he was going to do whatever it took to make sure that that happened. 

His version of love was forever, it was far more romantic. But with that came a larger meaning. And with that larger meaning came more apprehension to tell someone. Saying someone was your forever was a huge deal. So Keith needed to be sure, was Lance his forever? He wanted him to be- but did he feel it in the moment? He wasn’t going to lie to Lance just to get him to stay, no he’d learned his lesson about lying and keeping secrets. But he needed to do something. He couldn’t let Lance walk away, it Lance walked away then what was the point of staying in Florida? Keith still _hated_ Florida.

You couldn’t get a good pizza, their sports teams would never compare to those of Chicago, the ocean was far scarier than Lake Michigan, and he’d made about four three friends in Florida. The only thing keeping him from complaining every single second of the day was Lance. Lance made the sun shine brighter, he made the ocean seem like a puddle, he made having three friends seem like having a million with how charismatic he was. Lance was incredible. Amazing. Lance was his forever.

“I know I messed up. I know I should have told you the second that gun was in my hand. I know I betrayed your trust, and that you hate feeling vulnerable. And, love doesn’t mean a whole lot to me, you’re right about that.”, Lance sniffled hearing that, “But it means something to you.”, Lance looked up with tears clouding his eyes, “And if it means something to you, then it’s important. And- I can’t say I love you too. I just can’t. But Lance- You’re my forever.”, Keith squeezed Lance’s hands, “You’re my forever Lance. Please don’t walk away, I can’t lose you. I’ll do whatever I can to make sure you’re happy.”

“But what about school Keith? What a few more months of being happy and then we _have_ to break up?”

“We could go to the same school, school’s in the same area, we applied to similar schools. We can cross that bridge when we get to it, until then- I care about you Lance. I don’t want to see you go…”, Keith remembered what happened the last time he tried to break up with someone, realized that this was probably hard for him, “If you really want to break up, I’ll respect your decision. Cause, I just want you to be happy, even if it’s not with me.”, He clarified.

Lance didn’t say anything, he just stared at Keith with those big beautiful blue eyes Keith had grown to love. His bottom lips quivered and he lost his internal battle and let out a whimper before leaning forward and curling into Keith’s body. Keith took a deep breath and wrapped his arms around Lance, rubbing circles into his back while whispering, “It’s okay. You’re okay. _We’re_ okay. You’re my forever Lance… I’ll never do anything to hurt you, I promise.”. Lance sniffled and wrapped his arms around Keith’s torso and squeezed as tightly as he could.

“You’re my forever too.”, Lance shakily whispered. Keith smiled softly at Lance who couldn’t see due to his face being squished into Keith’s chest. Keith pressed a kiss to the top of Lance’s head. 

“I love you Lance.”, And it really didn’t mean much to Keith to say that. But it meant something to Lance. So he would compromise. For Lance, he would do anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment!


	21. It's gonna take work

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment if you enjoyed! I love reading them! I read each and every one! It makes my day to hear from you guys.

Shiro walked into the doorway but stopped when he saw Keith on floor, Lance wrapped in his arms sobbing. Shiro looked at him inquisitively as Keith noticed him, ‘Give us a little bit.’, he mouthed. Shiro nodded and walked back to the waiting room before taking out his phone and dialing Iverson’s number.

“Shirogane- thank god you called. I’ve got a break in the case.”, He spoke upon answering. 

“Actually, Iverson I’ve called because I’m giving up the case.”

“What? Why? I thought you wanted this case?”, He said, “Shiro- there’s still so much left to do.”

“And I get that. But…”, Shiro sighed and glanced back at Keith’s room, “This is putting my family in danger. It’s unnecessary stress, and Keith’s gotten hurt because of it. I’m pulling myself from the case.”, He explained. 

Iverson groaned on the other side, “Okay… Okay, I-... Shiro please reconsider, there's a lot riding on this. We could bring down the entire Galra Empire.”

“And I wish you the best of luck, but, I can’t do that to my family. Not anymore.”

 

“I’m sorry.”, Lance sniffled pushing himself off Keith, “I’m sorry- I’m sorry. I shouldn’t, I need to stop… I’m sorry.”

“Hey, hey.”, Keith said shooting up to grab Lance’s hands again, “Look at me. Look at me.”, He said putting his hand on Lance’s jaw, pressing their foreheads together and looking into his eyes, “It’s okay Lance. We’re gonna be okay.”

“H-how do you know.”, Lance hiccuped, “I shouldn’t do this to you- I shouldn’t.”

“I need you to listen to me. I messed up. I messed up so bad, but I _was_ going to tell you. I was never going to threaten you with it. **Ever**. I would never lay a finger on you unless you were okay with it. I would never do anything to hurt you on purpose. Relationships aren’t perfect…”, He lowered his voice a bit, “They’re not supposed to be as bad as it was with you and… him. But, they’re not supposed to be perfect either. Fighting happens, mistakes _happen_. This is our first fight. And it’s not going to be our last.”, Keith smiled and joked, “Although I sincerely hope it’s the last time one of our fights ends in one of us getting shot.”, Lance let out a small chuckle in response, “It’s gonna take, work… And I- I’ve _never_ felt this way about anyone before. So, I’m willing to put in the effort if you are.”

“Okay… Okay…”, Lance breathed.

“Can I kiss you?”, Keith whispered. Lance pressed his lips into a line and nodded, closing his eyes and waiting for Keith to close the gap, “You’re my forever.”, He pressed a kiss into Lance’s lips. Slow and soft. 

“Thank you. For not- for not giving up on me.”, Lance whispered.

“Don’t worry, I fully intend to keep you around for a while.”, Keith smiled. Lance’s face turned bright red and he moved to hide it in the crook of Keith’s shoulder, “Oh that got you all flustered?”, He asked, “What happened to my highly flirtatious cocky boyfriend?”

“Shut up.”, Lance mumbled, his face flaming.

“C’mon, don’t get shy on me now McClain.”, He flirted.

“Not fair.”, Lance pouted pulling back. He sighed and leant against the wall, his legs on top of Keith’s.

“My brother is giving up the Zarkon case- so… no more thugs handing me guns. Promise.”

Lance’s eyes widened and he buried his face in his hands, “Oh god.”

“What? What is it?”

“You’re brother.”, He groaned.

“Yeah, what about him?”

“If he didn’t hate me before he _definitely_ does now.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Why wouldn’t I? Keith are you kidding, I’m like a bad luck _magnet_! I got you tangled up with Rolo-”

“Actually you tried to keep me away, but I wouldn’t listen.”

“-, And that got you jumped by those thugs-”

“Who never would have had the chance to had I remembered my phone.”

“-, Then the first time I met him while he wasn’t responding to you via his job, he caught us making out on your bed. I probably looked like some whore to him-”

“He doesn’t think you’re a whore. And Shiro’s a big boy he can handle seeing us kiss.”

“- Not to mention I literally just fucking SHOT you after saying that we were through- and if he doesn’t hate me then- I mean I would know if someone did this to my brothers or sister, then I would totally kill them.”

“He’s not going to kill you. He’ll be fine, he’s the least of our worries… I’m kinda worried what your parents are gonna think after you tell them all the stuff that happened.”, He admitted.

“My mom already knows.”, Lance revealed, “I may be 18, but my mom is not about to let me act like an adult just yet…”, There was a brief pause, “She’s upset. But, she’ll get over it.”

“She shouldn’t have to. I made a mistake. A huge one, she shouldn’t have to get over it. You’re her son, she’s got a right to be worried about you. I just hope I’ll get the chance to prove I deserve a second chance.”

“If you keep saying sweet stuff like that then I’m sure you will.”, Lance smiled softly, “I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing Lance, you don’t need to-”

“Alright well, I shot you so that’s just not true.”, Lance corrected.

“The bullet grazed me. I’m fine-”

“But, that’s not what I’m apologizing for.”, Lance sighed, “Although I actually am going to say sorry for that one more time. Sorry.”, He quickly added, “But I’m sorry for being so wishy-washy. I’ve got baggage. You said that yourself to Coran when we’d first met. So, I’m sorry that I got you messed up in it all… And this is the part where you leave the hospital and _never_ have to come back unless someone’s having a baby.”, Lance pointed seeing Shiro make his way back towards the room, “I’m serious. No more injuries mister.”

“ _You_ shot _me_ ”, Keith gawked, “I didn’t plan on ending up here.”

“Doesn’t matter. No coming back, you hear me?”

“You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Yeah I do. It’s my job.”

“Lance, you’re mom is in the lobby waiting for you.”, Shiro spoke upon entering the room. Lance nodded and slowly stood up, avoiding eye contact with the buff police officer before him as he exited the room. Not before giving Keith’s hand a squeeze though, “And Keith, I talked to the doctors you’re good to go.”

“Alright…”

“So how did it go?”

“We’re good… Y’know, not- not like we were before. But, good. So we’ll get there again.”, Keith said softly.

“Okay.”, Shiro said simply, “Aren’t you angry at him?”

“I’m not. I know it sounds crazy stupid, and that I should be, but I’m just not…”, They got in the car and things were silent. Neither said a word as Shiro buckled his seatbelt, starting the car. Keith didn’t move. Contemplating.

“Keith, I know your thinking face, what do you want to say?”, His brother truly could read him like an open book. 

“He said he loved me.”, There was a moment of quiet. As Shiro was taken aback.

“Oh… And what did you say.”

“I told him he was my forever… And then, he said it back.”

“That’s pretty big. Did you mean it?”

“Would I have said it if I didn’t?”

“I don’t know, would you have?”

“No.”, Keith finished quickly, “No I would not… Mom and Dad were highschool sweethearts weren’t they?”, He asked.

“Yeah, they were together since sophomore year. Talk about made for each other.”

“Do you think it’s possible, that- Lance and I-”

“I think you have to wait and find out. You’ve known each other for a little over four months. You’ve only been together a month and a half. Granted you’ve been through a lot in that time, but still… It’s pretty new, so you’ve just gotta wait and see. Impatience can ruin a relationship, so just like he’s gonna have to be patient with you, you’re gonna have to be patient with him.”

“Hm…”, Keith hummed to show he was listening.

“Everything has a way of working itself out, even if it’s not the way you want it to, or it’s not the way you planned. Things happen for a reason regardless of whether you like it or not. If it’s meant to be, it will be.”, Shiro finished finally starting to actually drive the car from the hospital parking lot, “On a different note, why did Allura tell me she found Lance’s _boxers_ in our washing machine.”

“Shit-”

“Keith, I’m implementing _the rule._ ”

“I hate you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment if you enjoyed! I love reading them! I read each and every one! It makes my day to hear from you guys.


	22. Everything will be okay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Possibly the end????

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so like- I love this story. Don't get me wrong I do. But I've also kind of lost interest in writing for it over the past few weeks. Its felt like more of a chore than something fun I actually get to do. I've got inspiration for a new Klance story that I'm really excited and want to start writing but I also hate having unfinished projects, and I'd like to finish this one but I don't want it to be rushed, I don't want to leave any lose ends but like I have this whole Zarkon story line I was introducing and honestly I have zero Idea where I was going with that and now that I've written Shiro off the case I have no clue how to weave that back in without the question, 'WHy the fuck would he give a shit about Keith' just constantly nagging the audience. I feel like this is the way that I want to end things, but I also kinda hate the way that I'm ending it. I want to be able to wrap everything up in a little bow for you guys but I just don't have the same passion for this book that I used to and I don't want to write subpar content just to write it. So I feel that this could work as an ending, and as of now the plan is to end it here. Please comment and let me know what you want, because I will continue to write if you really want me to, but again I've just lost the drive for this particular work and have a new idea for a Klance Omegaverse!AU that I'd really like to start working on. I don't know, please let me know your thoughts.

Keith stood nervously on Lance’s front door step. A red short sleeve button up and black skinny jeans donned rather than the normal crop-top jacket. His fingerless gloves ditched for the first time in weeks. His palms felt naked without them, there was nothing to stop the sweat from seeping out of his hands. He’d never been more nervous in his life.

“Keith?”, Lance’s mother answered the door. She frowned slightly upon seeing him, it was the first time since the gun incident a week prior, “Lance isn’t home right now, he’s at work.”

“I know…”, He spoke. He extended a bouquet of flowers, white, blue and orange, “I came to apologize to you.”, Rosa took the flowers with a puzzled expression and Keith understood he needed to explain a bit, “I hurt your son. And that in turn hurt you, so- I know family is the most important thing to Lance. He says he’s not, but I know he’s stressed out now that you disapprove of our relationship. I need you to know it was never my intention to hurt Lance. I care about him so much, and I want to make him happy. But I can’t do that if there’s bad blood here.”  
Rosa looked at him, “That’s very admirable of you Keith. But it’s going to take more than flowers to show me that you are capable of making my boy happy.”

“C’mon mom-”, Veronica appeared behind her, “You know he makes Lance happy. He’s got that stupid dopey smile all over his face again.”, She spoke.

“Veronica go back insi-”

“Mom.”, She stated, “You gotta give him a chance.”

“Veronica. Go back inside. I will not ask again.”, She grumbled and complied, “I’m open to the two of you together, but it’s going to take some time to earn my trust again.”, Keith nodded solemnly preparing to hang his head and leave, “But if you keep trying, as you did today. I have no doubt my apprehensions will go away.”. She nodded her head to Keith before stepping back inside and shutting the door. Keith took a deep breath, beginning to walk away but stopping when he heard someone call his name. 

He turned to look but couldn’t figure out where it was coming from, “Keith!”, The voice called again, “Up here!”. He looked upwards and saw Veronica all but hanging out of a window.  
“Be careful-”, He grit rushing underneath the window sill, ready to catch her should she fall. 

“I’ll be fine- I do this all the time.”, She spoke leaning further outside of the house, “I just want to tell you, don’t give up on my brother just because my mom’s a little upset. Lance _really_ likes you. Even after what you did. Which by the way, I will slap you for. But not now, gotta get you when you’re not expecting it. Anyway, Lance likes you. And if you care about him as much as he says you do, then you’ll stick by him, even if my mom’s butt hurt.”

Keith nodded, “I’ll do anything for him.”

“I know. I’m calling it- you two are going to get married one day. I’ve placed my bets.”, She smiled, “But I wasn’t kidding I’m going to get you back for the shit you pulled last week.”

 

 

Keith felt his face flush as his thoughts swarmed with images of him and Lance married somewhere off in the future. Both in tuxes as Keith watched him walk down the aisle. Carrying him bridal style through the front door of their first house (Because Lance would insist that it was tradition). Waking up on sunday mornings to Lance smothering his face with kisses, staying in bed all day snuggling. Making breakfast together that gets forgotten in favor of other activities that take place in the bedroom. Keith could even see children. Children that wake them up at the crack of dawn and keep them up until the ass crack of midnight. Children that despite being the absolute worst are also the loves of their lives. Children that are their forevers. 

And that scared Keith. Cause he’d always been adamant that he would never adopt a child. But Lance came from a big family and had always, even before they were together, expressed his desire for kids of his own one day. And if it was with Lance he could see it. He could see a future with him, and that showed that this was far more real than either of them had previously thought. That was terrifying. 

“Shiro?”, Keith asked.

“Yeah?”, He responded looking up from his phone.

“How did you know Allura was the one?”, He questioned, refusing to meet his brother’s eyes with a scrunched up face. 

Shiro’s smile softened as he let out a small laugh, “I don’t really know. I guess I just knew.”

“That’s not very helpful.”, Keith grumbled. 

“Well that’s the best advice I can give.”, He sighed, “Keith, you’re still young. You have time to think about things like this. When you meet the right person, you’ll just know… Although judging by the topic of our last few conversations my guess is you think you’ve already met that person.”

“I just… I know you said that I’ve got time. And that Lance and I haven’t been together very long but, I- I imagined kids. _Kids_ Shiro. _**Kids**_. Me! I imagined a family with him, and a future.”

“I’m not going to tell you what to do Keith, or how to feel. You’ve gotta follow what your heart tells you. This is for you and Lance to figure out, when you feel the time is right you tell him what you’ve been thinking about, you’ve gotta just see where life takes you. If it’s meant to be, it will be.”

 

 

Keith’s head was spinning. How had his life been thrown into such disarray in only the span of a few months. Keith was still nervous about Zarkon on top of all of it. Should he have warned the police about what Nyma and the other guy had told him in the alley? They knew about the gun, but not much else. Shiro had dropped the case but he was already on their radar, did that really mean it was over? Would it really be that easy? Sometimes Keith wished he was back in Chicago. In Chicago _everything_ was easy.

“Keith?”, Lance asked placing his hand utop Keith’s, “You okay?”

“Hm?”, He asked snapping from his thoughts.

“Are you okay?”, He asked once more rubbing his thumb over Keith’s knuckles. 

“Yeah.”, He sighed choosing to focus solely on the feeling of Lance’s soft skin, “Just thinking.”

“About?”

“Everything.”, He let out an exasperated laugh, “A better question is what am I not thinking about.”. Lance hummed in agreement, letting his foot drop down slightly to graze his big toe across the water beneath them. Keith leaned forward on the dock, resting his head on the mid bar of the railing.

“My sister told me you stopped by yesterday.”, Lance said softly, “The flowers you gave my mom are beautiful… She’s still a bit upset, but she told me that she really appreciated your effort.”

“ ‘m glad.”, Keith mumbled. It was a bit foggier that day, the weather seeming to read Keith’s mind, unsure if it should be sunny or storms so instead settling on some hazy unreadable day.

“Pretty sure my sister loves you by the way.”, He smiled leaning into Keith’s side, “She said she’s started planning our wedding.”, He laughed. Keith felt his face flush as he leaned back into Lance.

“Tell her I want purple napkins.”, He whispered. It had been a long couple of days and he was really feeling the lack of sleep now that things had settled down a bit. 

“Why purple napkins?”, Lance laughed. 

“My parents…”

“Oh.”, Lance said. Keith could hear Lance’s heart beat faster through his chest, “Could you tell me about them. I mean, I know a little. Like the forever stuff, but- I don’t know. I go on and on about my family and you met them- and I’ll never…”, Lance got quieter, “I’ll never get to meet your parents, so- would you tell me about them?”

“Well for one, they’d love you.”, Keith smiled up at Lance, staring into those brilliant baby blues, “They met their freshman year of highschool. In the same history class. But they didn’t really talk until junior year.”, Keith smiled remembering his mother tell him the story, “They were at lunch and some random guy had walked right into my mom and spilled her lunch tray all over her. My mom was pretty pissed. But my dad was right there and he offered her his napkin. And the reason they’d even really started talking was because the napkin was purple and my mom thought it was the dumbest thing she’d ever seen and of course with her ‘firecracker’ personality she just had to let my dad know that. They started off really only fighting, but more and more they just started enjoying each other’s company. They started dating at the end of junior year and then thirty some odd years later… well, here we are.”

“That’s sweet.”

“Yeah… My parents were the best. I’ve always been pretty apprehensive about letting people in after I lost them.”

“You let me in.”, Lance pressed a kiss to Keith’s temple, “And Hunk, and Pidge.”

“I- I never liked to think about the future because it scared me. Because I didn’t know what it held or what I even wanted out of it. I always thought I’d never find someone like you.”, Keith took a breath, “Lance, I see a future with you. I imagine every day of the rest of my life and I can’t imagine one without you in it. I’m not like- proposing or anything, but I’m saying… One day, I _could_. I’ve never felt like that before.”, Keith looked up at Lance whose face was flush, his mouth agape, “Oh god it was way too soon to say that wasn’t it-”

“No. Just, really surprised me is all. I feel the same. About seeing a future that is. I’m not, exactly as scared as you might be about that. But, I feel the same otherwise.”

“You’re my forever Lance.”

“And you’re mine.”, He smiled softly. The two leaned in for a peck, and with it a promise. That one day, everything would be okay. They would be okay. 

_**It was going to be okay** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so like- I love this story. Don't get me wrong I do. But I've also kind of lost interest in writing for it over the past few weeks. Its felt like more of a chore than something fun I actually get to do. I've got inspiration for a new Klance story that I'm really excited and want to start writing but I also hate having unfinished projects, and I'd like to finish this one but I don't want it to be rushed, I don't want to leave any lose ends but like I have this whole Zarkon story line I was introducing and honestly I have zero Idea where I was going with that and now that I've written Shiro off the case I have no clue how to weave that back in without the question, 'WHy the fuck would he give a shit about Keith' just constantly nagging the audience. I feel like this is the way that I want to end things, but I also kinda hate the way that I'm ending it. I want to be able to wrap everything up in a little bow for you guys but I just don't have the same passion for this book that I used to and I don't want to write subpar content just to write it. So I feel that this could work as an ending, and as of now the plan is to end it here. Please comment and let me know what you want, because I will continue to write if you really want me to, but again I've just lost the drive for this particular work and have a new idea for a Klance Omegaverse!AU that I'd really like to start working on. I don't know, please let me know your thoughts.

**Author's Note:**

> Drop me a comment! Means a lot!


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